O Brother, Where Art Thou?
by Chiwizard
Summary: Shadow survives and goes on to live with Sonic and Tails...Unfortunately, someone from Shadow's past is back, and Shadow isn't going to be too happy to see him...rating for Shadow Abuse COMPLETED AND DONE! //Now with editing of chapters!//
1. Hey You

...The chapters of this story are going to be undergoing editing, mostly due to the fact that I seriously don't write like a squealing Shadow fangirl anymore.

I still **am** a squealing Shadow fangirl, of course...but honestly, can you blame me for that? Look at him! Who wouldn't squeal?

_((laughter)) _

Point of the matter is, this was originally a old, not-particularly-great story that I went over again, decided could be salvaged, and then created this story out of. And now I'm going over and making further improvements...

So basically, I hope you like it!

Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog

Claimer: Stuff I invented belongs to me

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"_Hello, little Shadow. Little **brother**..._"

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Shadow stirred in his sleep.

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"_Still here, little Shadow. **Always** still here, little brother. You can't stop me now, but then you never could, could you?_"

"_I'm coming for you, little brother...just wanted to let you know..._"

-

The voice disappeared at that moment, twisted into piercing peals of maniac laughter which faded away far more slowly. The laughter was still faintly ringing in his ears when the black hedgehog shook himself awake. He shivered against an imaginary chill, and searched the room around him in confusion until his memory kicked in. Right...this was his room at Sonic and Tails' house.

That fact, in and of itself, was also fairly confusing for Shadow. When he had found himself standing on their doorstep and knocking on the door, Shadow had half-expected that they wouldn't deign to so much as allow him to spend the night.

Instead - and much to his surprise - they had shown him to a spare room and made it plain that he was welcome to stay as long as he wanted. It was a strange experience, to get this sudden acceptance from people he'd nearly killed not too long ago. At first, Shadow had suspected them of taking him in out of a sense of pity, or to keep an eye on him. It had taken a few weeks for Shadow to realize that Sonic and Tails had let him in the door because they viewed him as a friend. It was still a strange feeling...the last people had ever considered to be his friends had been...had...

That was when the black hedgehog remembered just what had woken him up this late at night. That voice...that terrible, familiar voice saying those things...there was only one person he could think of that would speak in that manner, or say things like that...or laugh so terribly...

"No...it _couldn't_ be -"

Shadow shook his head, vigorously denying the idea of the voice's identity that had sprung to mind.

"There's no way it could be...it's been too long for it to have been him..."

-

It took a long while before Shadow could get back to sleep again. He didn't dream of the voice again, but his rest was still uneasy.

Something was about to happen, maybe...

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((I'm trying not to change the content too much, therefore this chapter's going to remain fairly short. Sorry about that...)) 


	2. In The Flesh

And now we start achieving longer chapters. Nice, very nice...

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Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog

Claimer: Stuff I invented belongs to me

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"_Hello_... Hey, Shadow! Shadow...I'm talking to you, Shadow...anybody home? _Shaaaadooow_..."

When that drew no response, Sonic resorted to slightly more drastic measures. Besides, it wasn't like Shadow wasn't asking for it anyway, right? Zoning out on them like this...

"Attention Faker: Earth to Faker, come in Faker."

That drew an immediate glare from Shadow. If there was one thing Shadow couldn't stand, Sonic had learned early on, it was being called a fake. Sonic wasn't certain why this was so, but he wasn't going to strain himself trying to figure it out. It probably wasn't any of his business anyway.

"For the hundredth time, Sonic, stop calling me that. You _know_ I hate it," Shadow growled, emphasizing Sonic's point.

Sonic grinned in response.

"And that's why I keep using it," the blue hedgehog pointed out, unapologetic, "Besides, nothing else was working! I've been talking _at_ you for the last ten minutes and you _still_ look like your brain's a million miles away! Is something up, or what?"

Shadow hesitated, then shook his head. Sonic didn't believe him for an instant. In the interest of speeding up the conversation, however, Sonic chose not to press the issue.

"Anyway, what I've been asking you is if whether you wanted to come out with me and Tails. Tails wants to go pick up some things, and I figured it might be interesting to walk around for a while..."

"You? Walk?"

Their positions had reversed: now it was Sonic glaring at Shadow, while Shadow smirked in response.

"I do walk on occasion, yeah," Sonic said, "Besides, knowing Tails he's probably going to buy something too heavy to carry or fly home, and I'll need to go help out anyway..."

"Hey! That only happened once!"

Tails stuck his head inside the room, frowning, and Sonic shrugged. Shadow remained quiet on the sidelines, watching what was apparently a familiar scene play out.

-

Shadow eventually agreed to come along, and the three of them headed out. They had only just gotten into the city when the rumbled underneath their feet. Up ahead, a column of smoke shot into the sky, and the sounds of crumbling concrete and shattering glass were loud in the wake of the roar of whatever had just exploded.

"...What just happened?!"

Before anyone could even begin to think of an answer to Sonic's question, there was a sudden squealing of tires. Sonic, Shadow, and Tails had to leap out of harm's way when car spun off the road and onto the sidewalk right where they were standing. Other cars in the road were also skidding to sudden halts, their drivers veering and screeching and crashing as they tried to get out of the way of something.

The white blur that shot down the road with blistering speed was probably the cause. Almost a minute later, police cars were barreling down the road in its' wake. Only a few of the police cars were stopping to check on the people in the cars that had ended up crashing, but luckily no one on this particular stretch of road was much worse than being badly shaken up.

Sonic shook his head, coming back to his senses.

"Oi! What are we standing around for? We gotta get moving, guys!"

"...You want us to chase...whatever it was that caused this?" Shadow blinked.

"I doubt those police cars are going to be able to keep up with something that fast," Sonic pointed out, "And this did just ruin our entire day, right Tails?"

"We can't let somebody this destructive just run around causing chaos!" Tails agreed, "C'mon! Let's get going!"

-

They chased after the police cars, hoping to figure out where the strange blur was going so that they could cut it off before it got much farther away. Sonic neatly solved that problem by inquiring at one of the cars - although he nearly gave the officers inside a heart attack when he knocked on the window to get their attention - and they learned that the police were attempting to chase the mysterious city-wrecker into a trap.

It must have been successful, because by the time that Sonic, Shadow, and Tails caught up, the strange white blur was just entering a wide five-way intersection with large equipment and tanks blocking every exit. Sonic still bolted ahead and tackled the blur to the ground for good measure.

"That'll teach you! Better give up now, before I need to get serious!" Sonic declared as he sprang back to where Shadow and Tails had skidded to a halt.

The blur hit the ground, bounced once - and then jumped to land on the top of a streetlight, apparently not fazed at all.

"Oh, I don't think _I'll_ be giving up anytime soon, _fool_..."

The blur had turned out to be a hedgehog. And not just any hedgehog...Sonic and Tails openly gaped. This hedgehog looked almost identical to Shadow - the same face, the same set of gear...even the strange hedgehog's quills flared in the same way that Shadow's did. But where Shadow had black fur, this hedgehog had pure white fur. Where Shadow had red eyes and red stripes, this hedgehog had unnatural metallic silver eyes and stripes. And where Shadow had a white ruff of fur on his chest, this hedgehog had a black ruff of fur.

In a weird sense of deja vu, this hedgehog was tossing a Chaos Emerald casually in one hand, much the same way that Shadow had tossed one when he and Sonic had first met face-to-face. This Chaos Emerald, they slowly realized, looked extremely identical to the one currently on display in a museum right in the area of the city that had just been blown sky-high.

The biggest difference, however, was the look on the hedgehog's face. Even when he had fought against Sonic and the others, Shadow had never looked so...so utterly malevolent. This hedgehog had caused a huge mess, hurt a lot of people - and he'd clearly _enjoyed_ doing so.

From out of the corner of his eye, Sonic could just see Shadow's face turn from confusion, to surprise, and then to shock - right as this Shadow-lookalike jumped off the streetlight and came skating over for a closer look.

When the Shadow-lookalike came to a stop a foot in front of Shadow, Sonic found himself noticing that the lookalike was a bit larger than Shadow.

"I did warn you," the lookalike was saying, leaning in closer - while Shadow was leaning away in response, "Don't say that I didn't. Honestly, did you _really_ think that that would have been the last you'd see of me?"

Shadow grimaced.

"...Must have been wishful thinking on my part," the black hedgehog answered after another moment.

In reply, the white hedgehog laughed.

"...Hey! Just who do you think you are, anyway!" Sonic snapped out, trying to get past just how _weird_ it was for this Shadow-lookalike to be here.

The white hedgehog turned his gaze in Sonic's direction. He seemed to be sizing up the blue hedgehog...

-

That was about when the tanks started advancing.

"_ATTENTION, UNIDENTIFIED HEDGEHOG!_" came a sudden voice, projected out from a megaphone, "_THE ONE WITH THE EMERALD! DO NOT MOVE OR WE WILL OPEN FIRE! SURRENDER YOURSELF IMMEDIATELY!_"

"Hmm? I'd forgotten about these weaklings..." the white hedgehog muttered.

He shot towards the nearest tank without any other warning. The tank barely had enough time to stop before a large, messy hole was torn right through it. In the course of a minute, the remaining tanks met identical fates. And then the white hedgehog was back in front of their group again.

"I suppose that would serve for a decent introduction," the white hedgehog said, grinning wildly and waving the hand holding the Chaos Emerald at the ruined vehicles, "Do you still want to fight me? Do you? Do you really?"

"Grrrr...shut up!"

When Sonic darted at the strange white hedgehog, fully intending to take him down before anyone else got hurt, he certainly wasn't expecting the hedgehog to retaliate using the Chaos Emerald. But that was just what he did: the white hedgehog did..._something_, Sonic wasn't exactly sure what. Whatever it was, it released a powerful shockwave that sent everything in the intersection reeling - including Sonic.

And while Sonic was on the ground, the white hedgehog stepped over him and walked calmly over to where Shadow was similarly prone.

"I thought...we'd gotten rid of you," Shadow managed as the white hedgehog dragged him back to his feet.

"Obviously, you failed. Not that that's anything _new_ for you...isn't that _right_, my dear little brother?"

Sonic and Tails could both feel their eyes bugging out at this casual declaration. This guy...was Shadow's brother?!

"Luckily for you, I've been needing someone at your limited level. You are going to help me finish what I started - now won't that be so much fun? Just like old times!"

Before Shadow could answer, the white hedgehog planted his fist into Shadow's gut. Shadow dropped like a rock. The white hedgehog grabbed Shadow's prone form by the arm, turned his head to meet Sonic's gaze - and grinned unpleasantly.

"Lest I forget...the name's Raven, Ultimate Life Form - and don't you forget it!"

With a hearty laugh and a brilliant flash of light, Raven warped out using the Chaos Emerald - taking Shadow with him.

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Ugh...that took longer than I thought to edit... 


	3. Waiting for the Worms

Oh man...sorry for the long delay on the edit of this chapter. Real life turned into a pain for a while there.

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Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog

Claimer: Stuff I invented belongs to me

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When Shadow managed to open his eyes, the first thing he saw was blackness.

What happened? Where was he?

Shadow couldn't remember...the throbbing headache made it very difficult for him to think clearly...

After a little while, the ache started to fade. Shadow tried climbing to his feet. He still couldn't see very well, but he was able to make out a bit more of his enviroment. The floor was hard, and felt like concrete. The ceiling was high enough that he didn't hit his head; neither ceiling nor walls was in reach of Shadow's hands. This still didn't tell him anything about what had happened, though.

'I have to think...where was I before? What happened to me?'

Gradually the memory of the day's events returned, piece by piece. Shadow remembered watching Sonic and Tails argue...remembered walking down the city sidewalk...remembered the earth-shaking roar of the explosion...and the one who launched that explosion had been -!

"I take it from your panic that you've come to your senses, little brother," Raven's voice purred out of the darkness.

Shadow braced himself to fight - or run - as he turned around, searching for the source of Raven's voice. It was still so dark in here, wherever this was, he couldn't tell where Raven's voice was coming from.

Raven laughed, a merry and terrifying sound.

"Such a feeble head you have on your shoulders! Perhaps I should have done both of us a favor and removed it. Ah-h-h, I suppose there's plenty of time to correct that little matter later on. First..."

Shadow never noticed a thing to war him that Raven was coming. One moment Shadow was turning his head, trying to pinpoint where his brother was, and the next he was down on the ground, a fist still planted against the side of his head. Shadow's head rang with the blow.

"...Let's get reacquainted, us two brothers."

Oh, he could see Raven now; the white hedgehog was faintly illuminated by the light of the Chaos Emerald. Its flickering light made Raven look eerie and even more menacing than he was already. And all of Shadow's pride and confidence was melting away...not that he'd ever been able to muster much up whenever he'd been stuck in _this_ situation.

"Yes, yes...shall we?"

--

When tapping out a rapid tattoo on it with his fingers didn't satisfy, Sonic switching to slamming a fist against the wall. It wasn't the wall's fault that he was so frustrated, but there was still no denying it. It had been days - a bunch of days, WAY too long in Sonic's opinion - since the decidedly one-sided fight in the city against Raven.

Shadow's brother, eh? Wasn't even the right color to be called a 'Raven'...and he'd taken off with Shadow before Sonic could do a thing to stop him. Now who knew what that guy was up to! There hadn't been so much as a _peep_ since, either; no mysterious explosions, no Chaos Emerald thefts, no sightings, no nothing!

"If you put another hole in the wall I'm not fixing it this time," Tails said, not turning around from where he was hunched over a computer console.

"I didn't put another hole in the wall! Besides, I'm worried. Aren't you?"

"Of course I am! But beating up a defenseless wall isn't going to bring Shadow back any faster."

"I can't just sit around and wait, Tails!"

"Then go for a run. I can call you the second I'm done, you know," Tails suggested, peering over his shoulder at his frustrated friend.

It said something about how worried Sonic was that he barely considered the idea before rejecting it. Instead he paced back and forth, fuming silently over what could possibly have happened to Shadow.

There was a chime from the computer. Tails made a small noise of satisfaction.

"Alright, here we go..."

Sonic moved to peer over Tails' shoulder. He didn't know what Tails was looking for, but it beat anything else Sonic could think of doing at the moment.

"What've you been up to, anyway?" Sonic asked after a minute.

"Research," Tails replied, "I've been trying to find out anything I could about that Raven guy. See if I could find out where he's likely to be, who he might be working with, and if he's really what he said he was..."

"Huh."

Personally, it seemed to Sonic that Raven was quite likely to be an 'Ultimate Life Form' like he'd claimed he was, since Shadow was an Ultimate Life Form and they were brothers...but then again, what if he wasn't actually Shadow's brother...but then again, Shadow had _recognized_ him...honestly, the idea twisted into knotes that made Sonic's head hurt.

"So where are you pulling that info from?" Sonic asked as data continued streaming down Tails' computer screen, "I don't think we're going to be lucky enough that Raven has his number listed in the phone book."

"Well, I started with the GUN databases, and they have a connection to the ARK computers. If there's any info at all on Raven, it'll be in one of those two places, I bet."

Sonic hadn't quite finished processing the implications of this (he knew Tails was a genius with machines, but the hacking skills were something new) when the flow of data stopped. A single file was open on the screen now. It wasn't too comprehensive, but it did cover all the important points.

Yes, Raven was Shadow's brother. Older by about two years or so, apparently. Yes, he was an Ultimate Life Form. And yes, he had been known for some odd behavior, culminating in an attempted takeover of the ARK. After that failed, Raven had escaped to the planet and had never been heard of since.

Until he'd finallt reappeared, stealing the Chaos Emerald and Shadow.

"That guy looks like he's some serious bad news," Sonic sighed, "Why didn't anyone catch wind of what he was up to, anyway? He didn't strike me as the subtle type."

"I think the only one who really would have noticed anything would have to have been Shadow," Tails replied, "And I get the impression that Raven would have forced Shadow to play along and not tell..."

"Yeah, me too. Which means it's even more important that we figure out how to beat this guy and get Shadow back," Sonic said, "So, does this file list any weaknesses, do you think ?"

"Let me check..."

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And that's the newest improved chapter. Please to be telling me whether this version is better or not, yes?


	4. Comfortably Numb

Grrr! Once more into the breach! Editing skills, ATTACK!

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Eh heh heh...we'll just ignore that and move on to the chapter, shall we? Right.

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Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog

Claimer: Stuff I invented belongs to me

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Tugging at it never did him any good.

It was better than doing nothing, though, so tug he did. The main reason tugging never did him any good wasn't that he couldn't get it off just by tugging (although this was true), it was that too much or too vigorous tugging kept attracting unwanted attention.

"_...Shadow..._"

Like that.

Shadow let his hand drop, keeping his gaze firmly on the floor. Maybe if he ignored the other hedgehog standing dangerously close by, Raven would go away. That would be best. Or maybe Raven would start ignoring Shadow in turn; something else that he would prefer immensely...

"Oh, stand up straight and pay attention to me when I talk to you, Shadow!" Raven's voice chided him, "You know what'll happen if you don't..."

A stinging shock emphasized Raven's point, and Shadow reluctantly straightened up.

Damn this collar! Raven wasn't taking chances this time, especially since he no longer had the advantage of being bigger and tougher than Shadow was. Shadow had woken up aching and sore to discover the strange device wrapped around his neck, and had failed to discover a way to get it off ever since. Raven might be psychotic, power-hungry, and otherwise insane, but even his most reluctantly related younger brother had to admit that Raven was most assuredly a genius.

This collar was able to hook into his nervous system whenever it detected that Shadow was not doing what Raven wanted him to be doing. It would start off with hurting him, sending pain shooting his body. The more Shadow fought back, the worse it got. And if Shadow _still_ disobeyed, the collar would take control and turn his body into a living puppet, with Raven as the puppeteer and Shadow trapped inside and forced to watch. It only took experiencing this once for Shadow to decide that if he _had_ to be stuck in this situation, he'd rather be stuck while in control of his own body and not as a helpless slave.

He had _some_ pride left, still.

"Looks like all that training I invested in you paid off," Raven said, tugging on one of Shadow's ears with a cruel smirk, "And really, I'd _hate_ to think that you didn't _appreciate_ all of the hard work and time that it took me to make this delightful little device. I _did_ make it _just_ for _you_, little brother...if I thought that you didn't _like_ my little present to you, why, it would just _crush_ me!"

'_Wish it _would_ crush you, literally_,' Shadow thought.

As if Raven knew what he was thinking, the hand on his ear twisted and pulled. Shadow grimaced, but resisted an impulse to lash out at his tormentor. It wouldn't do him any good anyway.

Raven let go after a few minutes, then stepped away, gesturing that Shadow should follow him. Raven picked his way through the dimly lit room that served as his base of operations with the ease of long practice. Shadow had to be careful; it was so darkly lit that he couldn't make much out of the surroundings. Shadow still hadn't figured out where they were.

For all Shadow could tell, this place could be up in the ARK, or buried underneath Sonic and Tails' house, or be somewhere else that he had never heard of.

"Now, my dearest little brother, it's time to hear what your older and wiser brother has been planning all this time. Of course, I couldn't pull the plan off without _you_; a minor flaw that I was thinking of correcting, until I realized what a _wonderful_ chance it would be for us to bond. We still have so _much_ catching up to do, little brother...unfortunately, business must come before pleasure."

Raven stopped, and gestured. A large computer screen flickered on, providing more illumination to the room as well as temporarily blinding Shadow. He was still blinking tears out of his eyes as Raven idly tapped out a sequence of keys on the keyboard below the lit screen.

The screen now displayed a picture. It was some kind of ball, white in color. It was far from being a drab object, however, with how thousands of tiny, jewel-toned rainbows that seemed to come from nowhere at all played gently across its surface.

It was, Shadow had to admit, a very lovely thing. What would his brother want with something like this, though?

"I see you have no idea what you're looking at," Raven said, "It's almost shameful, you're so uneducated."

He sighed, then gestured grandly at the display.

"This, my pitifully ignorant little brother, is a legendary object known as the Fount of Light. It is said that he who can find and control this tasty little bauble will gain anything and everything he desires. Power, wealth, control, immortal life...ANYTHING! And so naturally this is something that I _want_."

Raven sighed dramatically at this point.

"I had to spend so much time putting together tiny little fragments of scraps from this legend and that legend to realize what I needed to do. Most of the blind imbeciles I had to..._question_...were of the opinion that I was chasing a fairy-tale. Unlike them, I'm not so foolish as to not know that the Fount of Light is real. Even better, I know how to _get_ what I want!"

There was a flash of light, and a Chaos Emerald appeared in Raven's hands. He tossed it to Shadow, who fumbled to catch it.

Raven really was insane...didn't he know that he'd just handed Shadow a ticket out of here? With a Chaos Emerald, Shadow could Chaos Control! He could warp away to freedom and safety in a _heartbeat_ - !

The collar erupted with a level of pain Shadow had never gotten from it before. He wasn't even able to scream before he dropped to the floor, the Chaos Emerald falling from his grasp and rolling off into the shadows of the room. Raven waved a finger at him, tutting at him with a vicious grin plastered on his face.

"Ah-h-h...you really _are_ as much of an idiot as I remembered, my foolish little brother! Didn't you think I would have _planned_ for that? The collar's power increases when you're near a Chaos Emerald, you ignorant little whelp! It can pick up the brainwaves that tell it you're going to disobey me before you can even finish _making the thought_! I learned from last time not to assume your obedience if I couldn't enforce it myself."

From his position on the floor, Shadow grunted as he felt something hard hit him in the side of the head. It was the Chaos Emerald that he'd dropped; Raven had kicked it back over.

The twisted hedgehog was holding a second Chaos Emerald in his hands, the Emerald's glow highlighting the manic gleam in Raven's silver eyes.

"Get off my floor and pick up the Chaos Emerald, Shadow," Raven ordered, still grinning, "We've got a stop to make with your old friends at G.U.N.; they have a set of Chaos Emeralds that I've just been _dying_ to get my hands on! Well, _someone'll_ be doing the dying tonight...and we'll even go on this errand as a family, won't that be so much _fun_? Just like old times..."

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Yay, another chapter brought up to more interesting and coherent levels. MUCH improved, if I do say so myself.

But what do YOU think?


	5. Don't Stand so Close to Me

You luv me! You weally weally luv me!  
  
Sorry for the delay on this, btw. There's this hideous institution that I'm forced to go to for most of the day, five days per week. Maybe you've heard of it...  
  
Disclaimer/Claimer: what do you think?  
  
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The alarms blared loudly overhead as Shadow kicked down the metal door that was the last defense for the vault inside. As he picked out the Chaos Emerald from the wreckage and turned to go, Raven stood in the doorway waiting for him.  
  
"You've actually gotten a little bit better, Brother," the white hedgehog mused aloud, "I didn't even have to help you out this time. Let's go."  
  
Even as he followed his brother through the ruined corridors of the GUN base, Shadow's mind was replaying those words in his head again. Had that been…_pride_ in Raven's voice? Were his ears playing tricks on him, or had the insane hedgehog seemed almost _relieved_ that Shadow had done his part all by himself?  
  
Most importantly, why did he want to hear it?  
  
Before they had gotten halfway through the rubble, Shadow had come to the only conclusion that he could think of. There was something in his head that was resurfacing, something that Shadow had buried a long time ago…back when he had, sickeningly enough, actually _desired_ his brother's approval and praise, which had allowed Raven to manipulate him endlessly.  
  
But if it was only returning now, when Raven had come back and was forcing Shadow to work with him towards his twisted goals…then, did that mean that some part of him still wanted affection from the _beast_ walking in front of him?  
  
_Why_?  
  
Shadow kept these disturbing thoughts from showing in his face, and when the two of them got outside what happened next drove them from his mind altogether. Outside the wrecked base stood Sonic, and Tails was hovering right behind him.  
  
Raven's twisted cackle of amusement echoed in the air and Shadow kept his eyes pinned to his feet. It looked like he was purposely helping his sicko brother, and he didn't want to see their hatred of him.  
  
"Shadow!" cried Tails, but still the black hedgehog didn't look up.  
  
He couldn't block out the conversation, though.  
  
"What did you do to him, you white freak?!"  
  
"What, _this_ weakling? He's just back where he belongs - helping his best and only Brother get exactly what I want."  
  
"And what's that supposed to be? The ARK wasn't enough for you, and now you want to rule the whole world?"  
  
"Rule? HAH! You and your petty little ideas. I don't NEED to rule anything - not when I have POWER! And THAT'S all I really need!"  
  
"So, you're collecting Chaos Emeralds to get this power of yours?"  
  
"Almost right, but not quite! Little cubling, the power of these Chaos Emeralds is nothing compared to what I'm really after! And I can't have annoying little pests like you getting in the way!"  
  
"You talk big, but can you back it up, Whitey?"  
  
"I don't need to waste my time with you insignificant bugs. Oh dearest Brother of mine…"  
  
Shadow didn't look at anyone, including his brother, even as he turned towards him.  
  
"…Clean up this mess," Raven chuckled nastily, "I want that blue hedgehog to be nothing more than a blue smear on the concrete. You can do _that_ much, I know."  
  
Pain lanced through Shadow's brain almost instantaneously, almost before he realized that his mind had automatically refused - not that he would have agreed to the fight anyway - but the black hedgehog barely managed to stand still despite the collar's application of punishment.  
  
"No?" Raven asked in an amused tone of voice, "Oh, little Brother. I thought we got past this silly refusing stage a long time ago. Now hop to it!"  
  
And Raven snapped his fingers. Instantly the collar took over, and Shadow found his body turning away from his brother to face his friends.  
  
Even as his body began tensing to begin the fight, Shadow finally raised his eyes to meet the gaze of Sonic. The blue hedgehog seemed taken aback by what he saw there, and then Shadow shut his eyes and kept them tightly shut.  
  
Even as his body attacked something, and something attacked him, Shadow kept his eyes closed and stayed in denial of what was happening. Then something impacted the side of his head and Shadow was knocked unconscious, with only the unhappy knowledge that it didn't matter to the collar's functions if he himself was aware or not. 


	6. Tainted Love

Ta da! I told ya that I'd update when my other fic was done!  
  
Feel free to go check it out anytime, btw...  
  
Disclaimer: Today is Opposite Day, which doesn't mean I can't say I DO own Sonic! Man, I sure do hate Opposite Day...

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._ I was getting very frustrated. No matter how hard I tried, the stupid puzzle cube wouldn't get solved! I tossed it onto the bed and growled at it.  
  
"Stupid box! I give up!" I huffed.  
  
"You won't get anywhere if you give up just like that," said a voice from behind me.  
  
I turned to see Big Brother standing there.  
  
"Too hard," I protested, pointing at the puzzle cube.  
  
"You can do it, Little Brother," said Big Brother, "I know you can, and I know you the best."  
  
"How?" I asked.  
  
"Let me help," said Big Brother as he handed me the puzzle cube back.  
  
While I put my hands back on the puzzle cube's pieces, Big Brother put his own hands over mine.  
  
"You gotta move it around only a little bit," Big Brother explained, "And try to feel where it's different. Can you feel it, Little Brother?"  
  
I tried to 'feel' it like Big Brother explained.  
  
"…Feels…different, here," I said as it slowly came to me, and the piece slid into place smoothly.  
  
That let me move the next piece, and the next, and the next one after that, until it was suddenly finished.  
  
"Done!" I cried in triumph as the completed puzzle cube started glowing a soft green.  
  
"You did it! See, I told you that you could do it, Shadow. You didn't need my help at all. That's my genius Little Brother…"  
_. 

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That dream had felt so real, almost like a memory. Shadow felt himself drifting towards consciousness, but tried to cling to the last threads of that scene. Himself as a very young hedgehog, and Raven actually being the part of a loving Older Brother…as stupid as it sounded, it was much better than reality.  
  
He could hear some words from the waking world now, as the blackness around him turned gray.  
  
"Hurt…why…need to…killed him…"  
  
"Couldn't…now at…can help…"  
  
"That…guy just…and…all alone…care…anything happened…Shadow…be that cruel…"  
  
As Shadow focused, the next voice came in as clear as crystal.  
  
"How could Raven just leave his only family in the world all alone, maybe even to die?"  
  
A sudden jolt of pain streaked a new wave of darkness into Shadow's brain, muffling all other parts of the conversation around him.  
  
So, it appeared that Shadow had lost his fight. Had Raven abandoned him, then? Sonic and whoever was with him now must have beaten him pretty badly. And Raven had left him there, never to return?  
  
'It's not like this is the first time.'  
  
That thought surprised him, and one of the earliest memories Shadow had of Raven surfaced with it.  
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_ "Raven? Are you busy?"  
  
"No, I'm singing and dancing. Of course I'm busy! I have lots of work to do now, and I can't waste any of my time with you and your stupid kid's stuff."  
  
I watched as my brother stormed off, muttering to himself rapidly as he went. I sighed. It seemed the more tightly I held onto the hope that Older Brother's real self would some day reemerge, the stranger and scarier he would become.  
  
He was like one of our old puzzles that was missing a piece, the one right in the middle where it was hard to see. But I still believed he would come all the way back one day.  
  
After all, Raven had promised me that we would always be Brothers. And you never break a promise…_  
. 

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But that didn't make sense. Raven had been there…  
  
…Physically.  
  
Had there been a time when they had really been real Brothers? Had Raven been…could he have been…like a family?  
  
Had Raven…  
  
Had he, at one point…  
  
Had Raven been sane?  
  
But if that had ever been the case, _what had changed_? What could have happened on the ARK to change Raven from a peaceable, caring individual to the angry, violent, and extremely mind-sick monster that Shadow knew him as?  
  
A half-remembered echo of dark, excruciating agony leaked into his thoughts and Shadow felt bile rising in his throat.  
  
Of course.  
  
He had forgotten all about the Procedure! The one that had rewritten Shadow's abilities from nearly the bottom up.  
  
_The Ultimate Life Formation Procedure_.  
  
Raven was the older one of their pair, so he naturally he would have gone through it first! And for him, it might have been a totally untested procedure. Or -  
  
And here Shadow nearly really was sick -  
  
Or else he and his brother were just the latest of a line of hedgehogs who had suffered horrific ends while the Doctor used them to figure out how to make his terrible procedure more successful.  
  
Shadow had nearly gone insane himself from the pain alone. The Procedure had left a dark wound in his heart, and that had nearly poisoned his spirit into something that would make Raven's actions seem like those of an newly-hatched Chao.  
  
Only because of Maria's friendship with him had he managed to heal that darkness and retain the majority of his original personality. And Shadow would be the first person to admit that he wasn't nearly as perceptive as she was.  
  
But Maria had first come to live in their part of the ARK only a few months after Raven had escaped. If she had been there from the very beginning…would that have helped Raven?  
  
Shadow would have gone into hysterics if he could have moved at this point. He'd just come to a very stunning realization: he actually wanted Raven to be his Brother.  
  
Even if the white one had forgotten his in his scheming and his madness, Shadow still felt affection for his Older Brother. It had nearly all died, but a tiny seed had remained and since the arrival of Raven, despite all things, it had sprouted.  
  
His Older Brother wasn't fully evil, just sick. And illnesses could be cured, if you just knew how. It was like knowing how to solve one of their old puzzle cubes - if you could just feel where you needed to push, all the pieces would slide right into their proper places.  
  
'And to think, I have Raven to thank for that knowledge,' Shadow thought, amazed at this sudden change in his opinion.  
  
With that turmoil past, Shadow was exhausted and slipped into a deep, dreamless sleep. 

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* * *

.I decided to go on a slightly less evil angle. Or did I?  
  
(evil cackling) 


	7. TickerTape of the Unconscious

Eep. Sorry about the long wait, guys. I am now almost officially a college student, so freaking out because of my impending doom has taken up most of my free time.

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That and sleeping. But I digress...  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own or take credit for anything that I didn't originally invent. So there.

* * *

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Tails yawned and stretched, eyeing the pile of metal and electronics lying in front of him. He had finally finished disassembling that control collar that had been around Shadow's neck. It had been one heck of a piece of sophisticated hardware, and the fox idly wondered how long it had taken Raven to make it.  
  
It sure had been very freakish when it had been working…as far as they knew, Shadow had been knocked unconscious within minutes of the beginning of the fight, during and by Knuckles' unexpected entrance. And yet his body had gotten back up and gone after the three of them with unbridled ferocity until a lucky blow from Sonic had hit the control collar and snapped the relays inside.  
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Tails rubbed his shoulder, which was bandaged from when he had been kicked into a piece of concrete. Sonic was snoring away next to him, even more bandaged, for the collar had sent Shadow after him especially hard.  
  
'But not as hard as we had to be on Shadow,' Tails thought sadly.  
  
Until they had finally damaged the control collar, the three of them had been forced to try to disable their friend's body in order to stop him. And that had gone disastrously bad.  
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Pain? The collar couldn't feel pain.  
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Injuries? The collar ignored them.  
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Knuckles had even tried breaking one of Shadow's legs, but the collar had completely ignored that high level of damage and Knuckles had been promptly driven head-first into the ground for it.  
  
When the hideous fight had finally ended, the strange white hedgehog Raven had just glared at all of them before warping away with three Chaos Emeralds. The fourth had been dropped in the fighting, and Knuckles had gone back to look for it after they had managed to finish dealing with Shadow's body.  
  
And whenever he thought about it, Tails just couldn't believe that someone could be so cruel as to abandon a member of his own family. Even Eggman would recover and repair one of his robots that had gotten damaged in a losing fight - the Meckas had come back often enough…  
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Tails took this moment to walk over to where Shadow was lying. They had managed to tend to injuries fairly well, and nothing was permanently damaged…but Tails still felt unbelievable guilt at the sight. Shadow's face was peaceful…but it had been just as peacefully blank during the fight.  
  
"It just doesn't make sense to me…" Tails sighed, then froze as Shadow stirred.  
  
The black hedgehog's eyelids flickered, before opening halfway. If Shadow was in much pain, he concealed it well.  
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"Shadow?" Tails asked nervously, "Can you hear me, Shadow?"  
  
The black hedgehog's eyes turned to him at the sound of the fox's voice, but Shadow did not speak right away. Tails waited as Shadow took in every bit of the scene around himself that he could without being able to move.  
  
"Tails?" Shadow finally asked.  
  
His voice was weak, but also carefully neutral.  
  
"Oh thank goodness," Tails cried in relief, "We were worried that you were never going to wake up, Shadow! Sonic and Knuckles and I…well, we had to be, uh, be kinda rough on you…sorry Shadow…"  
  
Something in Shadow's expression flickered - Tails would have sworn bemused surprise had crossed the other's face for a second.  
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"…Me too," Shadow murmured after another minute, "Where is…?"  
  
"…Raven?" Tails guessed.  
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"Everybody," Shadow corrected.  
  
"Well, Sonic is right over there," Tails said, "But he's asleep right now. Knuckles is back at that GUN base, but he'll be back pretty soon. And Raven…he took off after we finally broke that collar you were wearing."  
  
This news didn't seem to surprise Shadow too much. As Tails watched, the hedgehog began to drift off again.  
  
"You should rest, Shadow," Tails suggested, and there was a barely audible reply by Shadow before the black one's eyes slid shut and he slept.  
  
Tails moved back over to his tools, feeling a little bit better. Shadow was himself again, and that was good. And Sonic and Knuckles would be thrilled to hear that the black hedgehog had woken up.


	8. Anything but Ordinary

Um, sorry for the wait everybody. I'll try to update faster, especially since the really interesting parts of this story are finally coming up.

But for now, here's another chapter!

Disclaimer: Does not own Sonic

Claimer: Does own Raven and takes credit for the Fount of Light (Anybody remember that thing?)

* * *

The next time Shadow opened his eyes, he discovered he was in a different place than he'd been last time. For one thing, there wasn't a roof here. There were only two things in his line of vision in this new location: a short pillar with a broken top, and something giving off a strange greenish glow.  
  
At least shifting his head to look around better didn't hurt as much as it had last time. But it was definitely a surprise to see what was making that glow - a huge Emerald. Shadow recognized it instantly, despite only having seen it once before. It was the Master Emerald.  
  
Logically, that meant that this was the Master Emerald's shrine. Which meant that Shadow was currently located on Angel Island. And judging from the voices which he could also hear coming from somewhere, the others were here as well.  
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"What do you mean, you can't find the other five? I thought you could track the energy of the Chaos Emeralds anywhere on the planet, Tails," Knuckles' voice inquired.  
  
"That's the problem," came Tails' voice, "Either Raven isn't on the planet…or he knows how to shield his Emeralds so that we can't find him. I hope Sonic has more luck on this than I'm having."  
  
"I just hope Shadow wakes up soon," Knuckles said, "He obviously knows the most about this Raven character. I know he'll heal faster in close proximity to the Master Emerald, but…"  
  
"You worry too much sometimes, Red," Sonic's voice suddenly cut in.  
  
"Sonic, you're back! Did you get it?"  
  
"Somebody beat me to it," Sonic replied, "Sorry, Tails. So that makes five Chaos Emeralds for Raven and two Chaos Emeralds for us. And we have the Master Emerald as well, so I guess it'll be good for something."  
  
Shadow mentally chuckled - physically chuckling hurt too much still - as Sonic's last statement ended with an irritated growl from the echidna and a startled yelp from the blue hedgehog.  
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"I was only kidding! Don't bust a gasket on me, Red!"  
  
While they laughed, Shadow suddenly felt a prickling sensation of alarm creeping down his spine. It took a moment for him to figure out what he was being alarmed by, but when full realization hit him he scrambled to get up as quickly as he could, pain or no pain.  
  
And there was a _lot_ of pain. Stubbornness being another well-known trait of any Ultimate Life Form, Shadow pulled himself upright by holding onto the nearest pillar.  
  
'Damn, my leg is still broken,' he grumbled as the limb in question refused to hold his weight.  
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Undeterred, he half-limped, half-dragged himself to the stairs. After all, if he was stubborn enough to walk on a broken leg, there was no way Raven was going to give up going after the Chaos Emeralds the others were holding onto. And some instinct was screaming that the Master Emerald was NOT a safe place to be near right now.  
  
Before Shadow could get a warning out, a large flash of light appeared in the sky, heralding the arrival of Raven to Angel Island. He landed practically daintily on the ground, four Chaos Emeralds hitting the grass with muffled 'thump' noises behind him.  
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Tossing the fifth onto the pile, Raven eyed the resistance facing him with visible amusement.  
  
"I do wonder…what in the world made you think that THIS was a good place to hide from me?" he smirked.  
  
"Raven! You're not getting our Chaos Emeralds without a fight," Knuckles growled, "And this time, you have to do your own dirty work!"  
  
"Ah, yes, I'd forgotten all about that last encounter with you pesky little nuisances…so where, oh where, has my dearest younger Brother gone off to now, hmm? Didn't he die?"  
  
"Of course he didn't _die_," Tails said.  
  
"Oh well, I only asked as a formality anyway. It's not like I actually CARE what happened to him. I did waste perfectly good time and electronics on him, but only because he's family…but enough about that! He's gone, that's great, now give me the Emeralds and I might consider letting you three live."  
  
'I guess there are some things which never change,' Shadow sighed mentally.  
  
Especially since he had decided to give his brother a last chance, the cruel words managed to strike the black hedgehog deeply. But unlike the last time Raven had said such things to his face, Shadow was fifty years older and wiser in the ways of the world. Instead of paralyzing him into inaction, the pain spurred him on.  
  
Of course, the words _did_ still hurt.  
  
As did the large wave of chaos energy that Raven suddenly lashed out at them with. Shadow painfully rolled down and off the side of the stairs as the others were also knocked for a loop. The white hedgehog was quick to snatch the last two Chaos Emeralds when they rolled his way.  
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"Oh no, he's got the Emeralds!"  
  
Shadow managed to get himself upright again in time to hear something that was the most disturbing thing yet. Raven, holding one Chaos Emerald in each hand, giggled. Combined with the huge grin now on his face, the white hedgehog looked like he'd lost the rest of his marbles now.  
  
Sonic and the others even relaxed their guards slightly, no doubt taking the expression for some sort of sign of weakness, but Shadow knew better - Raven had been wearing this same expression on that horrible day, back on the ARK…


	9. Losing Grip

Here's the next chapter for ya'll minna! And now the moment you've all been waiting for (maybe)... .  
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HERE COMES THE FOUNT OF LIGHT!  
  
(Disclaimer: authoress does not own Sonic. Trust us, if she did, you WOULD be able to tell)

* * *

. . .  
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"By the way, thanks for helping me gather all the Emeralds into one place, you gullible little fools!" Raven cried.  
  
"Whatever you're going to try with the seven Chaos Emeralds isn't going to work, Raven!" Knuckles yelled at the hedgehog.  
  
"Yeah," Tails added, "We can stop him with the Master Emerald! Great idea, Knuckles!"  
  
"At least someone here has great ideas," Knuckles added, and was rewarded with an indignantly spluttered mumble from Sonic. . ."You three really ARE gullible," Raven said, his face and voice suddenly very solemn, "When I said 'all the Emeralds', I meant ALL the Emeralds!"  
  
Without any further warning, Raven disappeared in a flash of light - Chaos Control! - and the seven Chaos Emeralds vanished with him. There was another flash of light above the Master Emeralds' platform.  
  
"STAY AWAY FROM MY EMERALD!" Knuckles bellowed, bolting for the stairs with Sonic and Tails right behind him.  
  
"Too late…"  
  
Hovering well overhead, Raven dropped six of the Chaos Emeralds, letting them crash into the Master Emerald below. He held onto the green Emerald and focused its power in the same instant that the others hit. .  
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"Keepers of the power of pure chaos…" Raven intoned, as the Emerald in his hand flared into a bright green star -  
  
The other Chaos Emeralds froze in mid-bounce, and started glowing as well -  
  
"Keeper of the power to RULE pure chaos…"  
  
The Master Emerald began shining like a miniature sun -  
  
"Guides to the power to reshape reality itself!"  
  
The lights from each Emerald grew brighter and brighter, too bright to see clearly anymore -  
  
"You know what I seek…now open up the way to the Fount of Light!"  
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."Did he say the Fount of Light?" Knuckles demanded, a fist shielding his eyes from the glare.  
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.The others were too busy watching Raven to answer. The white hedgehog let the Chaos Emerald he was holding drop. As soon as it came in contact with the other seven glowing Emeralds, there was a blinding flash of rainbow light.  
  
And when everyone was able to see again, there was a pretty amazing sight to greet them. A hole, hanging in midair right where the Master Emerald had just been resting - the Emeralds themselves were nowhere to be seen. Arcs of different colored lights pulsed around the hole, but the hole itself didn't have a color at all.  
  
Actually, it looked more like a sphere than it did a hole. But a hole it was. .  
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"Aha…now I understand it," Raven smiled, still hovering well above the fantastic display he'd called into being, "High-ho, high-ho, it's down the hole I go!"  
  
The white hedgehog cut the jets on his shoes and dropped, vanishing into the orb-like hole in space. It's surface rippled a bit, and then the ripples faded.  
  
"Everyone freaked out by this say Aye," Sonic said.  
  
"Aye," Tails said immediately.  
  
"Hey Red, what was all that about a thingy of Light?" the blue hedgehog asked next.  
  
"I thought it was just a myth…" Knuckles muttered, "I can't believe he discovered it…"  
  
"Meaning what, exactly?" Sonic pressed.  
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"Meaning," Knuckles growled, "That unless we do something quick, Raven's going to get a whole lot more dangerous and we aren't going to be able to stop him."  
  
"Hey, don't worry Red," Sonic grinned, "'Cause 'Quick' is my middle name!"  
  
"And here I was thinking your middle name was just 'the'," the echidna retorted, running towards the hole.  
  
Sonic zipped past Knuckles at the last second, jumping into the hole first. Tails jumped in last, a couple of seconds behind the both of them. 


	10. Bohemian Rhapsody

Yay! Reviews are the best people!  
  
...As are the people who make 'em, of course.  
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Disclaimer: Does not own Sonic  
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Claimer: Owns Raven and the Fount of Light  
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* * *

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The inside of the three-dimensional hole-thingy was a whole lot bigger than anything they had expected. In every direction there was nothing but big, empty, white nothingness, as far as the eye could see.  
  
'Creepy,' Tails thought to himself, 'I wonder if this is another dimension…'  
  
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The flat white ground stretched out to the horizon, where it met the edges of the blank white sky.  
  
Not far ahead of the three of them stood Raven. He had his back to them at first, but turned around quick enough when Sonic ran at him. He dodged Sonic's tackling attack with his regular weird grace.  
  
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"Let's see you try getting power when you've been squashed flat, Raven!" Sonic jeered, circling the white hedgehog warily.  
  
"No matter how many times I see it, it never ceases to amaze me how utterly stupid you are," Raven sneered right back, "I have no need go looking for any other power, when the Fount of Light is already mine!"  
  
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"Oh yeah?" Knuckles challenged, "If you've got all this newfound power, then prove it! Let's take a look at your little Fount of Light!"  
  
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"This place IS the Fount of Light!"  
  
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Raven's cry of victory, like Sonic's and Knuckles' voices, echoed weirdly in the huge emptiness of this place.  
  
"Merely by being here, its powers are mine to command! Anything I will into being shall appear, ready to do MY bidding…"  
  
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"You may be powerful now Raven," Tails said, speaking up after much careful thinking, "But you're still trapped in this place! What good is your power if you're stuck here forever?"  
  
"I can summon an exit anytime I wish!" Raven snarled.  
  
"Then where IS this exit, whitey?" Sonic said, still looking for a weak point in Raven's defenses.  
  
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Raven's expression faltered, just a slight and almost insignificant bit, but it was enough for Tails' suspicions.  
  
"You can't bring out any exits, can you? I know why," Tails said, surprising himself by actually feeling and sounding smug, "Because I bet that anyone who comes here gets the exact same abilities you're so happy about. And therefore you can't escape because WE don't want you to escape!"  
  
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Sonic and Knuckles both looked surprised at the idea; Raven seemed to mull it over before calmly nodding in agreement.  
  
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"Of course," Raven added as a vicious grin crossed his features, "If I should just happen to KILL the three of you, then there won't be anyone left to keep me from leaving…sounds like a pretty good plan to me!" 


	11. And We Danced

Yay! And now for the fighting!  
  
As for those of you that were wondering where Shadow went, don't worry - he's still in the fic! I haven't lost track of any of my main torture victims yet - I mean my main characters.  
  
...Nah, same dif.  
  
Disclaimer: See last chapter 'cuz I'm sick of repeating myself  
  
Claimer: See last chapter 'cuz I'm also sick of repeating myself

* * *

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And so began the strangest battle Sonic and his friends had ever faced. Weirder than fighting Perfect Chaos…weirder than fighting the Biolizard…and even weirder than fighting Shadow when he was under the control of Raven's super-control-collar.  
  
Inside the dimension that was the Fount of Light, their very thoughts and emotions caused things to appear and disappear wildly.  
  
So when Sonic ran full-speed at Raven, who darted to the side to avoid him, a thin blue trail hung in the air behind the blue hedgehog. And when Knuckles threw a punch - one that Raven ducked under - a red colored, Knuckles' fist-sized lump shot out.  
  
Raven, the wily and crazy Ultimate Life Form, took advantage of this oddity as soon as he spotted it. Instead of deigning to pummel his opponents with his own hands and feet, Raven changed his own arm into a massive silvery dragon's claw. With the longer reach of this new limb he slapped Sonic away like a pesky fly. .  
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The white hedgehog's laugh of triumph was interrupted by Tails. Having envisioned a heavily armed version of the Tornado, he was flying around the battle and firing little energy blasts. The two-tailed fox only wanted to stun Raven, not to seriously hurt him.  
  
"Brat," Raven spat, his quills lengthening and changing into flat needles of iron plating as Tails came around for another pass.  
  
When Tails fired on him, Raven let the attack hit his quills instead, and the blasts bounced away harmlessly. Then Raven jumped at the bottom of the plane as Tails flew over him and gutted the machine with his dragon arm.  
  
He landed lightly, more than ready to spring away as Knuckles lunged for him. Raven curled into a ball and tackled the echidna next, causing more damage than usual with his iron quills.  
  
Even though this sent Knuckles sailing away, Raven himself was sent hurtling face-first by a bright golden blur. Twisting midair like a cat to skid backwards to a graceful halt on his air jets, Raven barely paused to take a look at his new opponent before flinging himself forward. .  
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Super Sonic met him head-on. Raven was knocked back, but shielded himself with his transformed arm to avoid taking serious damage.  
  
Just as Raven was about to throw himself at Super Sonic a second time, a barrage of small missiles hit him. For a few minutes, the spot the white hedgehog had been standing was filled with light and smoke.  
  
Tails approached the spot cautiously in his new weapon, a four-legged walker, with more of his missiles ready if they were needed.  
  
When the smoke cleared, all that there was where Raven was standing was something that looked like a strange black lump. .  
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The 'lump' unraveled, revealing Raven. The 'lump' had actually been a scaly tentacle now growing out of the shoulder of Raven's normal arm, within which Raven had cocooned himself during Tails' attack. The hedgehog was completely unharmed.  
  
Cackling, Raven whipped the tentacle at the shocked fox, who barely managed to abandon his walker in time to keep from being killed as Raven crushed it into little pieces.  
  
"Oh please," Raven snorted, wiggling the tentacle at Tails and Super Sonic reprovingly, "You idiots need to think MUCH bigger than that!"  
  
"IS THIS BIG ENOUGH FOR YOU?" Bellowed a huge voice, right before a super-sized echidna fist squashed the hedgehog flat.  
  
Knuckles, who was the owner of the huge fist, had decided to make himself only about half the size of Angel Island. That was still REALLY big. When Knuckles lifted his fist up again, there were cracks in the white flooring of the weird dimension they were all in.  
  
However, there was no sign of Raven.  
  
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The outside world felt nothing of the great struggle taking place within the Fount of Light. In fact, except for avoiding the orb-shaped entrance to the Fount like the plague, the animal residents of Angel Island went about their business as they always did.  
  
And Shadow was almost all the way to the top of the steps.  
  
Falling off the stairs had hurt.  
  
Walking back up them hurt more.  
  
But sitting around not doing anything to help would hurt the most.  
  
He paused when he finally reached the orb. Sure, he'd seen the others go through it easily enough…but it sure looked like a solid orb to him.  
  
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Shadow's fingers sank right in, sending out thousands of small ripples. He yanked his fingers back out, shuddering at how weirdly COLD the thing was. Oh well, he had fur, didn't he?  
  
Balancing delicately on his good leg, Shadow fired his air jets long enough to get above the orb/portal, before letting himself drop into it the way Raven had. And the black hedgehog fell into a whole new world of pain.  
  
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The Fount of Light was not just a dimension of power, it was also at least partly sentient: a truly unique living creature.  
  
It was also empty, with no knowledge.  
  
So whenever other creatures entered in, the Fount of Light would use its powers to read their intentions and then recreate whatever it found. In that way, the Fount sort of granted wishes.  
  
But so far, all the things that the creatures could think of were merely forms and things - objects that served only one purpose, and different shapes for the creatures to wear.  
  
These latest creatures also only desired simple forms and things. And so it seemed to the Fount of Light's low level of consciousness that they were just like the others. .  
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Until the last one came. THIS one was different - in this creature's mind was a place. A world-home, a whole universe, perfectly understood and flawlessly recalled. It was something the Fount of Light had been hungering for since its own creation, untold ages ago: a true shape and a chance to grow as other living things grew.  
  
And so it did. 


	12. My World

Yikes. Sorry about the LONG wait, people.  
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Midterms and all, I was distracted. DON'T HURT ME!!!  
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Disclaimer: Sonic not mine  
  
Claimer: Fount of Light and Raven are MINE! MUWAHAHAHAHA!  
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* * *

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"Did we get him?" Tails wondered.  
  
"Don't know," Super Sonic said, getting a closer look at the cracked spot where Raven had previously been before meeting Giant Knuckles' sumo-fist.  
  
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The enormous echidna was also peering down at the spot from his altitude, not moving a step to avoid accidentally stepping on his friends.  
  
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Super Sonic frowned as he looked the spot over. If Raven had really been squished, there should at least be a puddle of former-hedgehog goo. But there was no sign of that…meaning that the hedgehog had probably escaped.  
  
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A sharp, high-pitched giggle suddenly echoed around them. Super Sonic groaned to himself as the three of them began looking around, trying to find where Raven was hiding.  
  
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Knuckles found the white hedgehog first - when he was hurled bodily into the air and then tossed aside like a rag doll, despite being fifty stories tall. Raven landed daintily in between Tails, who bolted away as fast as he could go, and Super Sonic, who was too busy staring in shock at the other hedgehog's appearance to think of attacking.  
  
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Raven had sprouted six new tendrils from his back, each as thick as the broken pillars that were scattered all over the Master Emerald's Shrine. But was truly horrifying was how those tendrils and the other additions had changed to an oily black color. A hazy black aura stained Raven's formally pristine fur and his eyes were now a glowing jaundiced yellow.  
  
This was Raven's insanity, manifested into his body.  
  
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"Run, run, run, as fast as you can," Raven cackled, "You can't catch me…nobody can!"  
  
"You can't run away from us forever, Whitey!" Super Sonic yelled, getting ready to attack, "Why don't you try fighting me like a hedgehog! Or are ya running 'cause you already know you'll lose?"  
  
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"Me?"  
  
Raven looked back at him, an incredulous expression on his face.  
  
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"Lose to YOU? You must be going insane. You can't beat me."  
  
Raven laughed.  
  
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"The ARK couldn't beat me, back then. The doctor couldn't beat me, ever. And you won't beat me, now or ever."  
  
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"Well, obviously somebody DID beat you back on the ARK," Super Sonic grinned, "So I figure I'll just take my shot and see what happens!"  
  
And with that, Super Sonic launched himself at the mutated hedgehog. He powered up a blast of Chaos Energy as he went and fired it point-blank at Raven.  
  
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Raven only noticed the attack long enough to physically rip the Chaos Energy to splinters with his new tendrils before attacking with his skinny scorched shoulder-tentacle and his now putrid dragon's arm.  
  
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Sonic lost his focus and his super form as the dragon claw grabbed him around the neck and started squeezing.  
  
"You can't beat me," Raven was insisting, "You aren't HIM. You were never HIM!"  
  
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For a minute, Sonic let himself contemplate the idea that maybe this was the end. That maybe Raven was going to win.  
  
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Then the world around them shivered violently and shattered into a thousand pieces, scattering its inhabitants to the winds and dropping them all into a pit of darkness. 


	13. Halcyon & On & On

Hiya, folks. Sorry 'bout the cliffhanger last chapter...I just couldn't resist that, hee hee!  
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Disclaimer: Sonic I don't own  
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Claimer: Raven, Fount of Light, and other made-up (by me) stuff I owns!  
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Knuckles groaned, his head still spinning from being tossed onto his head by the evil, lunatic Ultimate Life Form.  
  
'When I get my fists on him,' Knuckles growled to himself as he opened his eyes, wanting to see how the battle was progressing before getting back into it.  
  
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Therefore, finding himself both at normal size and lying on the metal floor of a metal corridor was rather surprising.  
  
"What the heck?" Knuckles wondered, scrambling to his feet.  
  
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And if he didn't know any better, the echidna could have sworn he was back inside the space colony ARK. Except that this part of the ARK was a lot cleaner and newer-looking than the parts he'd seen on the ARK before…  
  
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From behind him, Knuckles heard laughter. It sounded like a couple of kids, two at least. Confused, Knuckles went to investigate.  
  
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Along the wall, the control panels were blinking with bright green 'status-ready' lights. That too was weird - barely any of the panels that Knuckles had seen before had been functional. Most had been cracked and broken.  
  
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The sound of laughter grew louder as Knuckles reached a five-way intersection of the corridors. The only trouble was, he couldn't tell which hallway the kids were in. They were heading his way, though, so Knuckles opted to wait.  
  
"I wonder what kids are doing on this abandoned station," the echidna thought aloud to himself, "And how did I get back up here, anyway?"  
  
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"Hah hah, can't catch me Little Brother!"  
  
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"Can too can too if ya just stop runnin'!"  
  
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Two very young hedgehogs ran into the intersection. The one in front skidded to a hasty halt when he spotted Knuckles, but the second hedgehog didn't stop in time and collided with the other, knocking them both down.  
  
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"Ow! Get offa me, you're a big fatso," complained the first hedgehog.  
  
"I am NOT! You're older than me and that makes you way more fatter so there hah!" declared the second hedgehog as he got up.  
  
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What was really freaking Knuckles out was how eerily familiar these two hedgehog kids were. The older one - who was older by only two or three years by the looks of it - was a very light gray hedgehog with surprisingly bright blue eyes. His little brother was a very dark gray, almost black color, and had orange eyes.  
  
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"Why'd you stop anyway huh?" the dark gray kid demanded of his older brother.  
  
"Just stand still and look, silly!" declared the light gray kid, pointing right at Knuckles.  
  
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"Who's he?" wondered the younger kid, "He doesn't look like one of the techni- um, techni - uh, tech-guys but maybe the Doctor hired a new guy and that's him?"  
  
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The older kid rolled his eyes.  
  
"Stop runnin' your legs an' your mouth and ASK him! Didn't you learn any manners?"  
  
"I learned that slurping soup gets me sent to the gym faster," grinned the younger hedgehog.  
  
His brother considered this, and then they laughed together.  
  
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"So," said the older hedgehog next, "Who are you, huh? You're not a'posed ta be here if you're not register personnel!"  
  
"Yeah tell us right now or we'll tell on you ta the Doctor!" added the younger hedgehog, grinning from the safety of being directly behind his brother.  
  
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"I'm Knuckles," Knuckles told them - it wouldn't hurt to tell a pair of kids the truth, he figured - "Who are you two supposed to be?"  
  
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"Why don't you know that? Everybody knows who we are!" said the light gray hedgehog.  
  
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"I'm not everybody," Knuckles retorted, earning a giggle from the dark gray hedgehog, "And I'm in a hurry. Are you going to tell me your names or not?"  
  
"Ooh ooh I will! I will!" said the younger hedgehog as he jumped out from behind his brother's back.  
  
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The next words to come out of that hedgehog's mouth left the echidna completely flabbergasted.  
  
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"My name's Shadow!" said the small dark gray hedgehog, "And this is my super-cool Big Brother Raven! Hiya!"  
  
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When Knuckles could speak again, the only thing he could think to say was, "Are…you sure?"  
  
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The young brother hedgehogs Raven and Shadow blinked back at him.  
  
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"What kinda dumb question is THAT?" Child Raven finally demanded, "C'mon, Shadow, we gotta get back to the lab before the Doctor finds out we ran off."  
  
"Okay Raven," Child Shadow replied, "Last one there is a ugly fatso slug monster!"  
  
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Both hedgehogs bolted down another corridor. Leaving behind them a completely stupefied Master Emerald Guardian. 


	14. Logical Progression

And here we go again with another chapter!

I would have updated sooner, sorry about that btw, but I didn't. Ah, honesty is so refreshing!

Disclaimer: Authoress owns not Sonic

Claimer: Authoress does own Raven, Fount of Light, and other made-up stuff!

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"Now, how exactly did I end up traveling through time?" Sonic wondered to himself as he wandered the corridors of the ARK. 

Well, actually, the blue hedgehog was PRETTY certain that he wasn't actually traveling through time. Somehow, the Fount of Light was recreating the space colony ARK of over fifty years ago.

Complete with a matched set of Ultimate Life Form brothers.

Although the fact that Raven and Shadow were both different colors in their childhood did confuse him. That and they didn�t seem too Ultimate to him. In fact, had he not known what they would end up becoming, Sonic could have sworn that he was watching a pair of regular hedgehog kids hanging out and being, well, BROTHERLY.

But he had more important things to worry about right now - finding his friends, finding some way to beat Raven, and finding some way out of this crazy dimension.

Especially since Sonic couldn't do that 'Think-about-it-and-it-magically-appears' thing anymore. He knew, he'd tried to get back his Super form a couple times now without success.

"Oh, Sonic! I've been looking all over for you!" came Tails� voice.

The two-tailed fox was hovering down a maintenance ladder just above Sonic's head, and the blue hedgehog waited for his little buddy to catch up.

"You too, huh?" Sonic asked. "Everything's gotten even weirder - if that's even possible at this point."

"I wouldn't put anything past a place that grants wishes," Tails said.

"And the Fount of Light seems to be recreating the ARK now," he added, "The way it was when Raven and Shadow were kids up here. But this makes absolutely no sense at all!"

"Why would it ever make sense?� Sonic wondered as he and Tails set out in search of - well, actually they really didn't know exactly what they were looking for, so it was more like they just started walking around, "This place is insane - just like Raven. No wonder he wanted to come here so badly, they go together perfectly."

"Sonic, I�m being serious!" Tails exclaimed. "How many times have you run into the younger versions of Shadow and Raven? I've talked with them four times so far and they never recognize me. And that's because this is all just a big _memory_!"

"A memory?"

"But what confuses me is why Raven would want the Fount of Light to recreate his childhood," Tails continued, "It�s just too -"

"Hold up," Sonic interrupted, pointing at something up ahead.

That something was the young, not-yet-Ultimate Shadow. In this memory, Shadow looked almost exactly as he did now, minus the red eyes and stripes. But they had never seen any version of Shadow looking so upset.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Sonic asked the young Shadow.

The gray hedgehog jumped, having not realized that two people were standing behind him. Blinking at Sonic and Tails in a clear lack of recognition, he paused a minute before sighing.

"It's...um, well..." Young Shadow mumbled.

"Hey," said Tails, having thought of something, "Where's your brother? Don't you two usually stick together?"

"What are you talkin' about?" Sonic hissed at the fox in shock.

"As kids, _remember_?" Tails hissed back.

"Oh!" blinked Sonic.

At the mention of his brother, the younger version of Shadow lowered his sad, orange-colored gaze.

"That's who I'm worried about," Young Shadow finally admitted, "He had to go do some procedure thing...the Doctor said I'm not allowed to watch or anything...but, I have this really bad feeling...that something really horrible is happening to him."

"You sure care about Raven a lot," Sonic said, surprised with this side of Shadow he had never thought existed.

"Well, **duh**," Young Shadow snapped, "What are you, a stupid slowpoke or something?"

Normally Sonic would have never let Shadow get away with calling him any names - least of all with calling Sonic slow - but he just shrugged and rolled his eyes.

"Just because I like ya, I'll forget you just said that," Sonic said, "Besides, we haven't got any time for this. We have to find - "

An explosion rocked the corridor. And an ominous trickle of smoke began leaking out of the heavy sealed doors that Young Shadow had been watching before the other two's arrival.

"Is this another memory?" Tails wondered as the three of them darted towards the door.

The doors were blown outward before they got halfway there. More smoke billowed into the corridor, and from out of the smoke stepped Raven - the oldest and most completely insane version.

"I sorta doubt it," Sonic answered as he and Tails took up defensive stances.

They were both wondering what crazy thing was going to come next, but for once Raven seemed almost calm. Actually, he seemed really, really happy about what he had just done.

"It won't take me again," the white hedgehog said, expression dreamy, "I love this place even more now - I finally got to kill the evil monster. Dead, dead, _dead_!"

Spying his opposition, Raven looked them over without a care in the world - until his sights landed on the younger version of Shadow. Then Raven bared his teeth in a feral grin.

"And it gets better all the time..." Raven purred, "Because now I also am going to get to kill HIM!"

On the last word, Raven leapt into the air on his jets. Powering up a big ball of Chaos Energy, he fired it right at the unsuspecting - and extremely freaked out - Young Shadow.

There was no way for Sonic or Tails to intercept the blast at the speed it was going. But at the very last instant a dark blur flashed in front of Sonic's eyes.

Right before everything was blotted out by the Chaos Energy's sickly-colored light, and by the roar of the explosion. It took a while for everything to clear up again afterwards.

And the sight that was there to see was simply shocking.


	15. Complicated

(Authoress gives weak wave)

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Am WAY very sorry about the cliffy and the delay, everybody. Next chapters' up!

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Disclaimer: See last chapter

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Claimer: See above

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'Thank Chaos that Raven's not as great of a shot as he thinks he is,' Shadow thought to himself as he panted for air.

Clutched in his arms was the now utterly terrified younger version of himself, half-curled up only because being held by someone prevented the full curl-up 

"Holy cow!" he heard someone - Tails, yeah - yell as the smoke cleared, "It's _Shadow_! Our Shadow!"

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"Hey Tails, hey Faker," Shadow called back over to his startled friends, deliberately keeping his voice sounding relaxed to help calm the quivering bundle in his arms, "So, did I miss anything interesting?"

"Not really," Sonic said, getting into the friendly banter if for no other reason that being ignored was starting to make Raven turn red at the edges, "What took you so long getting your lazy butt in gear - _Faker_?"

-

The little version of himself stopped shaking slightly and peeked upwards at his savior, confused at the sudden change from instant death to friendly conversation. Shadow fought back any visible expression of wistfulness - he'd nearly forgotten how he'd used to look.

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"Um, thank you, I guess…" the little Shadow said, "Who are you? And who are those guys? And who's that guy that was trying to kill me? And why do you look sort of like me? And why does he sort of look like my big brother? And why's that guy blue? And why's that other guy got two tails? And why are you guys fighting? And why did that guy that sort of looks like my brother try to kill me in the first place?"

-

'I also nearly forgot I used to talk so much,' Shadow remembered, but kept that little thought to himself.

"Two or one's no difference to me," Raven announced, drawing attention back his way, "I'll still obliterate you."

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"Come on, do you really think that you've changed anything?" Shadow shot back.

"What'dya mean?" growled the white hedgehog.

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"That one wasn't the real one. If you had stopped it, why would we still be here like this?" countered the black hedgehog.

"Then I'll just keep getting rid of them until the real one is finally gone!" Raven yelled.

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"Go stand with them, okay?" Shadow murmured to his younger self.

Little Shadow hesitated, but then scurried over to Sonic as fast as he dared, keeping an eye on Raven incase the crazed one tried to destroy him again. Raven, however, was too busy snarling at his real younger brother to notice him.

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"You stand there, oh so smug, but I'm really doing you a favor," Raven continued without a hitch, "When its gone, we'll BOTH be fine. And when you're gone, I'll be doubly fine and you won't be around to care!"

"You think so?" Shadow countered.

-

Sonic and Tails - and Knuckles, whom Shadow had noted was watching this scene from around the corner behind Raven - had absolutely no idea what they were actually arguing about. Even if Shadow couldn't see their faces, this was something only he and Raven could understand anyway.

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"Take a look at me," Shadow added 

Raven blinked.

"I haven't looked like him - " here Shadow pointed to his younger self - "For a very long time. You think I don't know what you're after?"

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"No…" Raven gasped, "You…you DIDN'T!"

"First thing I did after waking up," Shadow said, now smirking in an unpleasant way.

"No no NO! I wanted to destroy it! It was mine! You stole my destruction!" Raven yelled.

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"Hey, can I ask what the HECK you guys are talking about now?" Sonic asked.

"The Doctor called it the U.L.M. D. - short for the Ultimate Life Making Device," Shadow explained without taking his gaze off his brother, "I'm sure that explains some questions you might have had about the different colors Raven and I used to be."

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Tails gasped. Sonic blinked. Knuckles, in his little corner vantage point, also blinked.

And the little, not-an-Ultimate-Life-Form-yet version of Shadow made a little noise of surprise and some fear.

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"…Are you…are you really my…older brother? …Are you Raven?" Little Shadow asked, careful not to step away from Sonic and Tails even as he voiced the question.

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Raven laughed.

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"A smart kid, just like I remember you."

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Then he frowned.

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"Which is why I have to kill you now. Before you ruin things for me."

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Raven's form blurred as he darted towards Little Shadow, but he was immediately intercepted by Big Shadow and knocked aside. That didn't stop Raven from trying to attack again, which meant that Shadow had to block this attack too, as well as the attack after that.

"Going after a kid, Raven? Only cowards and weaklings stoop that low," Shadow said as he saw his brother get ready to try attacking for a forth time.

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"I'm stronger than YOU are," Raven snorted.

"Really? I doubt that. Prove it to me."

"What did you say?" Raven growled.

-

Shadow smiled coldly.

"One last fight, just you and me. Prove that you're so much stronger than me, Big Brother."

Raven grinned back, his expression as cold as deep space. Without another word, both Ultimate Life Forms were gone down the corridor, with explosions marking their trail behind them.


	16. Illuminati

Reviews make me happy! Happy authoresses update with bigger chapters!

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And then we huddle under rocks to hide from people that hate cliffhangers! (ducks under rock) Like so! Sorry about ending the last couple of chapters like that everybody!

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Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic

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Claimer: I own Raven and the Fount of Light!

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"…So, should we follow them?" Tails asked.

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"I hate to say it, but maybe Raven can't be beat, even with all of us together. And how can Shadow be able to fight already - we saw when Knux broke his leg!"

"And it got fixed when he entered the Fount of Light," said Knuckles' voice as the echidna walked up to them.

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"Hey, Red! Finally woke up, huh?"

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"Shut up," Knuckles growled, "I saw the whole thing. Besides, Shadow's known Raven a lot longer than we have, so he must know his weakness or something."

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_"Stop calling him that!"_

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The three turned their heads, startled to hear Shadow's voice. The memory-Shadow was still there, glaring at them.

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"Stop calling that weirdo creep by my brother's name. That is NOT my brother!"

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"Hey, if he's a memory, why's he still here?" Sonic whispered.

"Uh-oh," Tails said as he figured it out.

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"Oh _man_, that was not the answer I wanted to hear from you, Tails," Sonic groaned.

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"Most of these memories we've been seeing are coming from Shadow's mind," Tails explained, "The ARK didn't appear until he entered, probably because Ra- because You-Know-Who," Tails changed what he was going to say when Young Shadow started glaring at him specifically, "Because You-Know-Who's memories are all distorted."

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"And your point is?" Knuckles asked.

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"When Ra…when HE saw this little Shadow, he wanted to kill him, practically desperately. He's fixated on this version of Shadow, and because he wants to destroy the real Shadow, now THIS one is real too."

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"…I just _knew_ things were going to get even weirder," Sonic moaned, "Somehow, I just KNEW it!"

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"So, what do we do now?" Knuckles wondered.

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Young Shadow snorted and rolled his eyes.

"I'm done with you bunch of weirdos. I'm gonna go find my brother now. My REAL brother."

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The younger Shadow was around the corner before the other three caught up to him.

"Hey, wait for us!"

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Young Shadow glared at them from over his shoulder, before deciding to ignore them and starting to run. He was leading the way into sections of the ARK that none of the other three had ever seen, so they just followed quietly.

-

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Occasionally, the deck underneath their feet rumbled from the distant battle of Raven and Shadow, the Ultimate Life Form Brothers. But as for Raven and Shadow, the Regular Young Hedgehog Brothers, Raven was so far a no-show. The section they were in now was a residential area, but no matter how many sliding doors they palmed open, there was no one else here.

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"Were there a lot of people living here once?" Tails finally worked up the nerve to ask.

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The younger Shadow hesitated, then shook his head.

"The Doctor said we had to stay in a room in this wing 'cause we're his important experiments," Shadow explained, "He said that these rooms aren't used yet because most of the people here are researchers, and the researchers live in a different section with their families."

-

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"Families?" Sonic wondered, "Hey, uh, Shadow, does Doctor Robotnik have a, um, granddaughter?"

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"Grand-daughter," Shadow mused, "Oh wait, those are children of your children, right? I remember reading about that…well, if the Doctor has a grand-daughter, I never met her."

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"What was that about, Sonic?" Knuckles asked.

"Robotnik's granddaughter is that Maria that Shadow's always been crazy about," Sonic reminded him, "I guess he didn't meet her until after Raven escaped…"

-

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"There's home!" Shadow suddenly announced, more to himself than any of his tagalongs.

The door he palmed open had signs in several languages. The only thing the signs actually said was that 'Authorized Project Personnel Only Beyond This Point', but Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles entered anyway. They were actually slightly curious to see what Shadow considered his 'home' on the ARK.

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Unlike the other, one-room rooms they had passed, the hedgehog brothers had been given a large multi-room apartment. It was done in all metallic colors, like the rest of the station, but it was still a nice place.

Shadow left them standing in the main room. He walked over to the first door and opened it. Inside was a sizable bedroom.

"Raven?" called the young dark gray hedgehog.

-

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He opened the other two doors as well - one was a bathroom, the other was another bedroom - and called for his brother in each.

"That's weird," Shadow finally said, turning back to his 'guests', "My brother wouldn't go off without at least leaving a note or something…"

-

Before the others could say anything, though, Shadow's face lit back up.

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"I got it! He must be in the gym! Raven always heads off to the gym when the Doctor doesn't need him…"

Shadow ran past them, out the door into the corridor, and vanished around a corner before they could stop him.

-

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"…I feel really sorry for that kid," Knuckles said at last, "He's going to keep looking for the Raven he expects to be here…but the only Raven he'll find is the one that wants to kill him."

"Then why did we let him just run off like that?! C'mon guys, we gotta find Shadow!" Tails exclaimed.

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"Which one?" Knuckles said in a bad joke as the fox and the echidna both headed after the young hedgehog.

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Sonic was right behind them, until he got distracted by something he spotted out of the corner of his eye.

It looked like there were people in the second bedroom. Sonic crept over for a better look and got the surprise of his life.

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Inside the room was Shadow…and _Raven_.

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This Shadow was still the young dark gray hedgehog they had been following, but possibly older. As for Raven, he looked _exactly_ like he did now - white with silver stripes and eyes, except for the black ruff on his chest. Maybe he was younger than the evil Ultimate Life Form they knew and loathed, but he didn't look too much saner than the present-day Raven.

-

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"Don't be such a **baby**!" Raven was yelling at Shadow, "You'll never be good at anything if you go around acting like a spoiled brat!"

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"But -" started Shadow.

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He was interrupted by Raven's backhand. It knocked the younger hedgehog to the floor, even though the slap hadn't been that hard.

At least, Sonic remembered, not hard for someone who was an Ultimate Life Form. It was getting really hard just to sit here watching - even if this was just another memory.

-

"No more back-talk!" Raven snapped. "If you were really my brother, you'd be helping me. But you must love the Doctor more than you love me!"

"But I AM your brother!" Shadow protested, already climbing back to his feet as he spoke, "You know that, Raven!"

-

'Oh, he knows,' Sonic thought, a sick feeling growing in his stomach, 'He's counting on it…'

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"Well then, Brother," Raven said in a weird-sounding version of a pleasant tone of voice, "Since we're _family_, you'll help me with my work when I need you, and not tell the Doctor anything about what's going on, right?"

-

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"…I can't tell the Doctor?" Shadow asked, sounding unsure.

"Of course not," Raven continued in that same tone.

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He put his hand on the other's shoulder. Even Sonic could see how Shadow flinched at his brother's touch, but if anything Raven's smile grew bigger.

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"You just promised to help me and not to tell, so therefore you'll help me and you won't tell. Remember, you never break a promise, right Little Brother?"

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"…Right," Shadow agreed, after some hesitation, but more importantly when the grip Raven had on his shoulder became less light and friendly, and starting being more tight and painful.

-

And if anyone knew how Shadow got when he _thought_ he was keeping a promise, Sonic the Hedgehog did.


	17. Demons Theme

Aw, guys! You're making me blush here - m'so glad you all love this fic so much!

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Here is the first chapter of 2005 for you all to enjoy!

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Disclaimer: I still don't own anything but the Fount of Light, Raven, and other such things.

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Sometimes he could barely believe what was going on. Who could have guessed that all the destruction he caused would be so interesting? He was having so much FUN!

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And Raven, the Ultimate Life Form, _loved_ having fun.

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Right he was playing the extremely fun little game called 'Pop goes the Hedgehog' with his littlest and only brother, Shadow. Not that Shadow knew they were playing this particular game…

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'But he'll soon learn,' Raven chuckled merrily to himself as he chased his brother around the corridors, 'Because when Shadow goes **POP**!, it means I win!'

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And if Raven remembered anything right, it was that winning, success, and other things like that were very important. The MOST important.

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…So why was he still worried about the other Shadow he'd seen?

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Even while he was running and flinging attacks and laughing, inside Raven was frowning and thinking hard. This battle was just a waste of time, totally pointless!

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'…Pointless because I'm going to grind Shadow into mincemeat pie!' Raven declared to himself, laughing out loud at the idea.

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…And…YET…

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A frown flickered over Raven's features, too fast for Shadow - if the black one had been facing the right way anyway - to see and take advantage of.

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Why was it that every time he had Shadow right where he could finally get rid of him - permanently! - Raven always got this strange urge to keep his brother around - and alive, even?

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'Last time, I only kept him around because wanted to try my little toy out,' he reminded himself as he channeled a wave of energy at Shadow.

Shadow barely managed to avoid the blast, and Raven thought he detected the delightful odor of scorched quills. Not that this blast would have actually killed Shadow…Raven had made certain that most of his attacks - since the Fount of Light stopped obeying him, anyway - had merely been light and fire.

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Raven smirked.

Shadow was _such_ an idiot.

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Being older, Raven had the benefit of the Doctor's full regimen of training and testing. That was why he was taking his time and just playing around, saving his energy while Shadow used up all of his power with real attacks.

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None of which worked, one might add.

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"Why don't you just give up, Little Brother," Raven called out, "And save yourself the embarrassment of being crushed by me?"

"And why would I give up," Shadow shot back, "When I'm not the one scurrying around like a frightened mouse?"

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Shadow punctuated his remark with a Chaos Spear barrage, which Raven easily avoided with a series of nimble dodging and ducking. Shadow laughed and Raven's vision streaked itself with red when he realized that he'd just proven Shadow's insult true.

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Bad things happened to the people that made Raven angry.

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Instead of using a regular blast of Chaos Energy, Raven held his hands over his head and focused on his special attack.

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"I have a surprise for you, Shadow," Raven chuckled, "Why don't you try playing with this little bauble of mine? Behold my Chaos Blades!"

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The Chaos Blades, like Shadow's Chaos Spears, were a bright yellow color. But instead of being mere narrow bolts, the Chaos Blades were shaped sort of like boomerangs. One appeared in each of Raven's hands.

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Shadow hesitated. Raven grinned when he spotted actual fear in his brother's gaze. Sure, the other hid his feelings almost right away, but Raven knew it would take only a short battering by the Blades, before he'd see that fear in Shadow again.

'…I think I missed that look,' Raven thought to himself wistfully, the image coming to his mind being a young Shadow watching him with a haunted gaze.

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At the same time, the image made Raven feel uneasy for some reason, so he shoved it away and went back to the business at hand.

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"Here, I'll demonstrate what my little darlings can do," Raven added, turning towards the nearest target.

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They were at a large corridor junction: nearby were a pair of reinforced steel doors. Raven aimed carefully, before tossing one of the Chaos Blades at the doors with all the accuracy of a professional knife-thrower.

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There was a flash of white light when the Blade impacted, followed by the thunderous roar as the doors were consumed in the blast of energy. Soon, the smoke cleared, and all that was left of the doors was big smoldering hole in the wall that was all scorched around the edges.

For a second, Raven looked into the hole and was surprised to see some kind of huge room. It looked familiar, somehow, but Raven decided to check it out after he dealt with his pesky brother.

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Then, he would take care of those others that had dared oppose him…including the not-Shadow Shadow that he'd almost gotten before…and then, with the powers of the Fount of Light at his command, Raven would be utterly unstoppable! Oh, the things he would kill!

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Laughing, Raven flung his second Chaos Blade at Shadow.

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The Blade was dead on target…until Shadow flung himself through the steaming hole at the last second.

Raven growled and exerted his will on the Blade. It's flight path twisted around in midair and it sailed neatly back into his grasp. Another thing Shadow had never learned.

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Smirking, Raven followed his brother through the hole at a leisurely pace. He was going to enjoy teaching Shadow about these things the hard way, that he most certainly was!


	18. Circus Envy

Ah, man, so many people like this fic! You guys, you're all too much, really!

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Anyway, here is the next chapter! Please enjoy, yes?

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Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic. I do own copies of Sonic SA2B and Sonic DX. Go me!

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It was almost amusing, where they had ended up. Shadow would have giggled at the very least if not for two facts: One, he was hiding from Raven and those weird Chaos Blades of his, and Two -

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Shadow. Did NOT. 'Giggle.'

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Raven's own giggle echoed through the reaches of the vast, unlit room, emphasizing Shadow's point.

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"Fi…fie…fo…fum…I smell something that I'm gonna blow up!"

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There was a flash of light as a piece of equipment - weights, it looked like - near Shadow's hiding place was suddenly blown into its respective molecules.

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That triggered something - a sensor, he would guess - and abruptly the lights flickered on. And thus the ARK's gymnasium was revealed in all its three football field's-length splendor.

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If the idea for a true space colony had ever gotten worked out, the Gymnasium had been presented as a public meeting place, not just an exercise area. Gerald Robotnik, ever meticulous, had been planning ahead every step of the way - because of course, what **single** creature could _possibly_ need all this space to run in, anyway?

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'I still remember when this place seemed too small,' Shadow thought to himself as he ducked to a new piece of cover, 'Still does, a little.'

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"Excellent," cut in Raven's voice, "FINALLY, someone gives me space to stretch my legs properly…Oh Little Brother! Why don't you give up this silly hiding business, and we can have a little race, just like old times."

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"Bored already, Big Brother?" Shadow called back, still moving around to avoid being targeted.

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"To be completely honest," Raven's tone was now calm and level as he replied, "Shadow, my boy, you're going far too slowly. What say you we finish this little debacle up with a good old fashioned game of Tag, eh?"

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When Shadow peered at his brother from his hiding place, he was surprised to see that Raven was just standing around, not even looking for him. There were no signs of any Chaos Blades - Raven had used them both already, Shadow recalled - and Raven appeared perfectly serious.

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Just to be safe, Shadow grabbed the nearest small object he could reach - a loose wrench from an emergency tool kit of some kind - and tossed it out into the open, before darting out from cover in a different spot.

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The wrench met with a fiery, untimely demise. Shadow noted that Raven barely seemed fazed at how he'd been tricked.

"It was worth a shot," Raven said with a quick shrug, before turning to face Shadow head-on.

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For a long time, the two brothers just faced each other, unmoving. To the casual eye, both hedgehogs were relaxed, but in reality they were both tensed and ready to move.

And that was when Knuckles, Tails, and the Real/Memory-Shadow stepped into the wreckage of the doors. When the echidna put his hand on the edge of the hole, a piece of steel snapped right off. Before it could caught, it fell to the floor and shattered into a dozen pieces.

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The sound of the smash was drowned out by the sound of two near-sonic booms as Raven and Shadow went for each other's throats.

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When the Ultimate Life Forms bounced off each other, Shadow took the opportunity to bolt onto the track, Raven hot on his heels.

The ARK was experiencing its very first colonyquake as Raven and Shadow repeatedly approached the speed of sound. Not to mention all the stray Chaos Blades and Spears that they were tossing at each other.

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When before they had not been moving, now the Ultimate Life Form Brothers were accelerating and decelerating far too rapidly to keep track of, or at least by ordinary senses.

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Sonic the Hedgehog was very proud to have extraordinary senses to go with his extraordinary speed. Plus there was his extraordinary coolness, but there would be plenty of time to talk about that later.

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He'd completely lost track of Tails, Knuckles, and the younger Shadow after staying behind to see that rather disturbing memory. But he'd actually almost gotten all the way to the Gym on his own when he felt the rattling of the ARK take on a familiar and welcome pattern.

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There was a reason they called him **Sonic** the Hedgehog, after all.

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He was almost halfway to a sonic boom himself when he burst through the ex-doors, past the gawking trio of memory-Shadow, Tails, and Knuckles, and didn't bother slowing down at all before he threw himself right into the battle between Raven and Shadow.

The lack of slowing down and looking at the situation first was probably the reason that he knocked both Ultimate Life Form Brothers for a loop.

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"Mind if I help?" Sonic asked, blushing sheepishly when he next had to help Shadow get back to his feet.

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"Your definition of 'help' needs some fixing," Shadow retorted.

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Raven, on the other hand, took one look at Sonic and snorted dismissively.

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"I remember YOU," he said, "I don't want to kill YOU right now - you're no fun at all!"

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"Well, if I'm working on 'help', then your bro's gotta fix his definition of 'fun'," Sonic commented to Shadow.

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"Go away, blue hedgehog," Raven grumbled, "I don't want to play with you. My soon-to-be-vivisected Brother is faster than you are, slow hedgehog."

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"Ooh, shouldn't have said that," Knuckles muttered.

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"GRR - them's FIGHTIN' words, Whitey!" Sonic yelled, "Nobody, but NOBODY, calls me slow! I could run circles around you with one leg tied behind my back!"

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There were a few hastily stifled snickers as some of Sonic's friends contemplated this mental image, but Sonic was too busy glaring at Raven to check where it had come from.

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"Seriously, go away," Raven said.

"Seriously, shut up," Sonic countered.

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"Make me."

"Make me."

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"Stop copying me."

"Stop copying me."

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"What did I do to deserve this," Shadow muttered to himself.

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"Shut up, stupid hedgehog!" Raven bellowed at Sonic.

"Shut up, stupid hedgehog!" Sonic yelled right back at Raven.

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Raven was quiet for a moment.

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"My favorite word is antidisestablishmentarianism," Raven told Sonic.

"My favorite word is anti…diss-something-something."

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Sonic stumbled over the long word, before shrugging and conceding the game to his opponent. Raven let out a short bark of laughter. And everybody else groaned and sweat-dropped.

"If, at some point, you two want to fight like _adults_," Shadow mentioned, "I'm right here."

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"And I am over here," Raven called, having bolted to the center of the track area before Shadow had finished his sentence, "But I left you two little gifts. Maybe you shouldn't look up, though."

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Sonic and Shadow looked up anyway. Two Chaos Blades were hovering, one over each hedgehog's head.

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The instant the Blades started moving - aimed right for their heads - Sonic and Shadow bolted in opposite directions down the track. Much to their dismay, the Blades followed after their targets at almost the exact same speed.

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"WHOA! Heat-seeking energy blasts!" Sonic yelped as his Blade nipped at the ends of his quills.

Shadow didn't waste breath with words, but ducked and weaved as he skated round the track, trying to shake his pursuing Blade off his tail. But to no avail.

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In the center of the track, Raven was making hand motions, directing the Blades' paths with perfect precision. He was concentrating on it so much that he didn't spare any notice for the echidna, young hedgehog, and two-tailed fox that had made their way into his immediate space.


	19. In My Project

College has started...**AAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHH!**

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...Ahhhh, I feel better now.

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Disclaimer: I only own Raven, the Fount of Light, and all the other stuff invented by me.

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Raven **did** notice when Tails and Knuckles attacked him, though.

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Not that it fazed him much - the white hedgehog jumped into the air, right over his two attackers, and they were so busy scrambling to avoid hitting each other that they never saw his powerful kicks coming. Raven's concentration was still firmly fixed on controlling his Chaos Blades.

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"Heh heh heh," he chuckled, "I guess this ended up being a teensy-weenie bit more fun then I thought it would be…but I can't spend the whole day having fun! I have things to do! And parting hedgehogs from their lives is such sweet sorrow…"

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It might have even been prearranged, although how was anybody's guess: Shadow and Sonic both made abrupt 90-degree turns, and put all their energy into a last burst of super-speed as they raced towards Raven.

"Guess what Raven," Sonic laughed as he kicked his speed up another notch, "This time _you're_ It!"

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Annoyed, Raven made a point of yawning loudly before he deigned to reply.

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"You have got to be kidding me. This lame ploy is the last defense your feeble minds could concoct? My control is _perfect_ - I guess I'll just have to slice you each in half with the blade I was going to use on the other."

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'Hmm,' Raven thought to himself next, 'That actually sounds more amusing then what _I_ was going to do…I guess these idiots are good for more than just target practice after all!'

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He laughed out loud. Having realized the slight hitch in their plan, Sonic and Shadow were struggling to slow down enough to turn without letting Raven's Chaos Blades catch up to them. Shadow especially was having trouble, due to a serious lack of traction because of his air jets.

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This sight, like much else that had happened in the last sixty seconds, was very amusing to Raven.

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Which probably explained why his mouth was open when a quill-covered ball intersected with the space his head was occupying.

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"GAAAAAH!" Raven shrieked, jumping away as the sphere-of-quills-and-ouchies attacked again.

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This time, Raven grabbed the ball by the arm. He gaped in shock when he found the face of the young/memory Shadow glaring right back at him.

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"What the…" Raven wondered aloud, "Are you supposed to be helping me kill you or something? Did I win a free squished hedgehog?"

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"It's a surprise," Young Shadow said, his expression unreadable and none too pleasant.

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Then he sank his teeth into the arm holding him. Raven yowled and flung the dark gray hedgehog away.

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Shadow hit Sonic, who tripped and fell on his face.

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At the same time, Shadow attempted to slow down too fast and slipped, landing on his own face.

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Both Chaos Blades, not being directed towards their targets anymore, continued forward, aimed for each other -

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And Raven.

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"Surprise!" Young Shadow laughed.

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Spotting the danger too late, Raven's only option was to hastily jerk the Blades upwards, while he curled into a ball. The Blades hit each other before they were halfway to the ceiling.

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In the ARK gymnasium, a sun was born.

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_"Do you even know how much time it took to make this machine! How much longer it will take to fix it again! And that won't be happening any time soon, considering how many of the parts NO LONGER EXIST! WELL! What do you have to say for yourself Shadow!"_

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_I waited for Gerald to finish ranting and raving. His anger washed right over me, but I was calm._

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_Why make excuses? He knew what had happened to my brother after this procedure…did he really think I would give him the same courtesy of letting him use the machine ever again?_

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_"Why must all my work show such signs of psychotic behavior?" Gerald moaned to himself under his breath._

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_I ignored him. Let the human keep his delusion of still having secrets. He'd soon learn…_

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_"All right. Maybe this isn't entirely impossible," Gerald said, this time talking about me, "Until I can determine the depth of your current…instability, Shadow, you will be remaining in this special containment area. And you can forget about getting out the way you got into the ULMD room - in case you've forgotten, you helped me create this very enclosure for your brother."_

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_I tapped on the reinforced glass and laughed, although even to my ears I didn't sound at all amused._

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_"In case you have forgotten," I answered him, "My brother and I have always been smarter than you, weakling human. That's why you needed my help to defeat him, yes?"_

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_Gerald snorted and left the lab in a huff. I let myself smile then, eyeing my reflection in the polished metal equipment nearby._

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_For the life of me, I couldn't remember why Raven had ever had to leave. Once you got over the whole torture thing, this change was good. I could feel the same sort of power my brother had used. And who knows?_

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_Maybe my brother would come back._

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_My reflected smile grew bigger, almost grimace-like._

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_Maybe when Raven got back, he'd see how powerful I was and he'd finally appreciate me the way he should of. If I hadn't helped Gerald, he'd never have been chased off the ARK._

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_Now he'd see how useful I really was…but then again, who'd need such an idiot helping them anyway?_

_It would be so **easy** to just **kill** him._

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_My musings were interrupted when the doors opened again. Gerald, back already from weeping over his damn machine?_

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_No…_

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_The human who walked in - at least I assumed it was a human - was no one I'd ever seen before. The weird human seemed to be looking for something, but when it saw me it came right over._

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_"I'm sorry, I didn't notice you right away," it said, "Are you a hedgehog?"_

_"Yes," I growled back, annoyed at this stupid human, "What sort of thing are you supposed to be?"_

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_"I'm a girl, silly," said the girl, "I've never met a hedgehog before. I like your stripes and your little white ruff."_

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_…What?_

_I looked down to find my hand idly rubbing the white fur on my chest. It wasn't a big deal, just where some wires and tubes had been when I was being grown in the tube…Raven's had been black._

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_As for the stripes, they were totally new._

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_"I like your ruff because it sticks out against the rest of you," the girl continued explaining, "And I like your stripes because they match the color of your eyes."_

_"…Thank you," I said, barely remembering what you were supposed to say when you were given a compliment._

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_I also remembered something else._

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_"Uh, my name is Shadow," I said, "What's yours?"_

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_"My name's Maria," the girl replied, "Your name goes with all the other stuff I liked. I like it the most of all."_

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_"…I like your name too. Maria."_


	20. All I want is all I need

And here we go again...muwahahahah...

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Disclaimer: I own nothing that I haven't made up

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The world is filled with pain.

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It hurts to be born…it hurts to die…and it hurts to be trapped between the two.

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**Wouldn't it just be easier if nothing existed?**

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'…Is…is someone there?'

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He can't tell if he's alive or dead. If everything hurts, then what does pain mean?

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"Um, what are you doing?"

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"He's checking he's still alive, of course. Don't be stupid, Red."

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"…After everything he just did? And the other stuff he was trying to do! Why don't you take your chance and kill him?"

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**Why didn't you take your chance and kill them?**

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He hears voices. Some are outside. Some are not.

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**You still could, if you tried.**

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One might be his.

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"How can you even suggest that, Knuckles! Evil or not, they're _family_!"

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_"You two are brothers…you're family. Make certain you take good care of him, Raven."_

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'…My head…it…hurts…'

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**You still have enough power to destroy them.**

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'…These voices…so many…'

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"He's still breathing," says a new voice in relief.

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**This is your chance to finish them.**

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"You sure enjoy high-risk living, Shadow."

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**Go on, you can do it.**

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_"His name is Shadow. He's your brother."_

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**Kill him.**

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_"What's a brothers, Doctor?"_

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**Kill him.**

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_"Brothers are sons of the same parents. Family. He's younger than you are, so you must watch over him."_

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**Kill him.**

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"Knuckles, you never had any brothers?"

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"What of it? That doesn't explain this to me."

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**Kill him.**

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"Me and Tails get it, right little buddy?"

"Yep! We're right here for you, Shadow!"

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**Kill him.**

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_"Why?"_

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**Kill him.**

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_"Because that's what brothers do. They watch out for each other. Because they're family. Shadow is your family."_

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**Kill him.**

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'He was so tiny, that first day…he could barely talk.'

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**Kill him.**

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'The first whole word he said to me was, 'Bruvver!' with that little grin…'

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**Kill him.**

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"Raven? …Brother? Can you hear me?"

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**Kill him.**

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'Kill him?'

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**Kill him.**

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'…Why?'

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**Kill him.**

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'But…'

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**Kill him.**

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'…………no…'

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**Kill him.**

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'I won't kill him. He called me brother.'

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**Kill him.**

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'I promised him we would always be brothers. You never break a promise.'

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**Kill him.**

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'I won't.'

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**Kill him.**

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'I won't.'

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**Kill him.**

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'I _won't_.'

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**Kill him…**


	21. Best Imitation of Myself

Awww, you WIKE me - you really WIKE me!

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(This Chibi Moment brought to you by: Tons of Reviews Inc.)

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Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic

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Claimer: I claim the Fount of Light, Raven, and the BIG surprise just up ahead!

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If this had been the real ARK, Tails suspected, they probably would be breathing vacuum by now. Just look at all the holes! He could see for way too far in most of them.

But since this was really the Fount of Light's pocket-dimension-simulation of the ARK, it appeared that there was no outer space outside the cracked hull.

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'That's a relief,' Tails sighed, rubbing the back of his head where it still hurt.

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When the Chaos Blades had impacted, everything in the room had been blown back, hard, by the force of the explosion. When Tails had managed to regain his footing and his eyesight, he'd wasted a couple of minutes gaping in shock before going to help his friends out.

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The two-tailed fox had gotten off pretty light, whereas Knuckles…

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He refused to admit it, but from the way his right arm was hanging, the echidna had slammed it too hard and something was broken…it was in the shoulder, was Tails' guess.

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Sonic, Shadow, and Shadow had been closer to the blast center, but since they'd been low to the ground, they'd avoided the worst parts.

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All three hedgehogs had scorched quills, and Sonic had been scratched by Little Shadow's quills when he'd curled up against the blast. Big Shadow had a sore chest from landing face-first, but refused any attention directed his way.

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After all, compared to poor Raven, they'd barely been grazed.

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'Wow,' Tails thought to himself, 'I never thought I'd be saying 'poor Raven' by the end of this.'

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The white Ultimate Life Form hadn't regained consciousness yet, although Big Shadow had swiftly determined that his brother was still alive. It was probably better that Raven not wake up, though - his body was covered in burnt patches and his front was bruised and cut up from slamming into the shattering metal floor chest-first.

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There wasn't much they could do for him, though, so they sat on what was left of the floor and rested, while Shadow - both, much to everyone's surprise - stayed right beside Raven and waited for him to wake up.

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"…I still say its dangerous to be helping him like this," Knuckles declared.

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"Feh," Sonic retorted with an idle wave of his hand, "It wouldn't be _worthwhile_ if it wasn't even a little dangerous!"

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"You two really think he'll change his tune, even if he does figure out you're helping him instead of finishing him off?" Knuckles asked, directing his question to the Shadows, "He IS out to destroy the world, you know."

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Little Shadow ignored the question, but Big Shadow lifted his eyes to meet Knuckles'. The look wasn't actively unfriendly, but it still made the echidna look away, uncomfortable.

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"I also attempted to destroy the world," Shadow finally said, "My try had better results than Raven's has so far. Does that mean he doesn't deserve the same chance as me?"

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"…You helped, in the end," Knuckled grumbled under his breath as the Ultimate Life Form turned back to check on his brother.

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Raven groaned.

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Immediately, Knuckles and Sonic shot to their feet in alarm, but Raven wasn't waking up just yet. The white Ultimate Life Form was still asleep, and now his face showed that he seemed to be in pain. Raven was gritting his teeth and growling, twisting around a little as if trying to avoid something. Big Shadow frowned and attempted to hold his brother down so he wouldn't accidentally hurt himself.

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Tails moved forward, thinking to help, but he hesitated when he noticed something very odd.

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Even the worst burnt parts of Raven's body had stopped smoldering almost right away…but there seemed to be some kind of smoke or something coming off him.

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In fact, if Tails didn't know better, he would have sworn the smoke was moving on its own.

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Judging from how some of the smoke slipped around behind Little Shadow like a snake - and completed the image by changing to form a snake's open maw complete with fangs - the smoke really was moving on its own. It was alive, moving, and ready to strike -

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It struck!

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"LOOK OUT!" Tails said as he lunged forward, shoving himself and little Shadow out of harms way.

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The smoke-snake recovered fast, turning to face the gaping bipeds and hissing. Raven's growls became anxious gasps, while more slashing smoke tentacles drove Big Shadow away from his brother's body.

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As more of the weird black smoke emerged from Raven, the head of the smoke-snake grew larger and darker. Soon it looked almost solid, and had grown to ten times their sizes combined before the smoke had finally stopped coming.

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"It never ends," Sonic grumbled loudly as they scrambled to get away from their newest obstacle, "Just when this place can't get anymore strange, just when things are so stupid that they FINALLY start to make sense…of **course** this happens! Why _wouldn't_ this happen!"

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The smoke-thing - it was far too bulky now to be considered much like a snake - turned its 'head' down to examine the hedgehog lying at its feet. In a manner best described as scornful, it kicked the limp Ultimate Life Form away, sending Raven's body flying.

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Raven rolled a little bit when he landed, having regained enough awareness to try and curl up. Far from causing serious damage, the kicking seemed to have been just the thing Raven needed to come around.

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The white hedgehog sat upright as best as he could, eyes dancing from Sonic to Shadow to Tails to Knuckles to Shadow as if to warn them off from even trying to help him out.

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Much to Tails' surprise, there was no fear or anger in Raven's gaze. His eyes were silver blanks, revealing nothing but the feverish light of the elder Ultimate Life Form's madness.

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Ignoring the warning, Big Shadow was over in a flash, assisting his brother in standing. The others held their breath, but all Raven did afterwards was to look his younger brother up and down.

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"Not because of this," Raven announced in a slightly cracked voice, "But for a completely different reason, Shadow, I have decided not to rip out your intestines and force-feed them to you."

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"Thank you," Shadow replied.

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"**Such wonderful ideas you have**," hissed a new voice, "**Perhaps I shall be the one to use them, if you are too cowardly to do so…**"

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It was coming from the smoke-creature. As they turned to face it, the thing's head and neck shifted and changed shape. It bulged out, the surface rippling like water…

_Exactly_ like water.

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Tails gasped, and heard Sonic and Knuckles gasp as well, as the smoke-thing's head changed into the head of Perfect Chaos. It was identical, if you excused the inky blackness of the water and the glowing white eyes.

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Just the thought that this evil replica was present drew out the horrible memories that Tails had…Station Square, flooded and destroyed.

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Sonic and Knuckles also seemed to be remembering the terrible destruction Perfect Chaos had caused, but Raven and Shadow just looked confused. Neither of them had been around for Perfect Chaos.

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Perhaps noticing this, the dark Perfect Chaos changed. The instant the smoke-thing lost its perfect identicalness to Perfect Chaos, the bad memories cut off right in the middle. Tails was now very surprised he had let himself be sucked into those old memories at all!

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Whatever the smoke was imitating now, it was something vaguely medical. But it looked more like the head of some horrible torture device. Whichever it truly was, Shadow and Raven recognized it. They were stuck in the same sort of bad memories Tails and the other two had been in moments before.

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Sonic and Knuckles now had the same confused looks Shadow and Raven had been wearing when face-to-face with the dark Perfect Chaos.

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And then all the pieces fell into perfect alignment in Tails' head. Just as the smoke-thing's shape was changing again.


	22. Ya'll Been Warned

New chapter, weird formatting, sorry, enjoy, etc, etc.

Disclaimer: Me no own not made-by-me things/ideas

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It was like being tossed into a nightmare you'd thought you'd forgotten about. It had never been truly forgotten, but it was so terrible that you blocked it out and made yourself believe it had never actually happened.

This time, the thing's entire body changed. The moment of relief he'd felt when the damnable mockery of the ULMD's all-purpose manipulator - terrifying enough even when you hadn't suffered under its burning ministrations - was gone in another instant as he recognized the shape this thing was taking.

'Please, no,' he moaned, 'Not again. Not the -'

"Biolizard!" Sonic yelled in shock as the change completed itself.

"_Wonderful_," Shadow groaned aloud, jumping back a pace as the 'Biolizard's' head swiveled his way.

"**It IS wonderful, isn't it?**" it purred, "**SO nice to have a proper skin on. Far less backtalk without a voice box.**"

"What the heck is that thing!" Knuckles growled, raising his left fist in an attempt to be threatening.

With his other arm so clearly out of commission, the echidna lost most of the effect.

Ignoring them now, the smoke-Biolizard, was gazing around the ruined ARK that surrounded them.

"**At least this one did ONE thing correctly**," it hissed, "**Even with my former host body disintegrated, I can acquire any shape I desire within this place. Soon my form shall be the symbol of the death of all!**"

"Former host body? What is that thing talking about?"

Tails was the one who had asked that. Shadow was shocked to see the young fox so completely nonplussed about this insidious resurrection of the Biolizard. It was as if the fox had never seen the creature before them before today…

…Wait a second. Himself, Sonic, Knuckles…they had been the ones in the core when the Biolizard had been released. Tails had still been in the first series of corridors leading to the ARK's core.

'It's drawing on the memory of the Biolizard to keep us paralyzed in fear,' Shadow suddenly realized, 'But it doesn't work if you don't have the memory. And it was hiding inside Raven…'

Inside another creature. Host body.

_Why must all my work show such signs of psychotic behavior?_

Insanity. Hearing voices in your head, telling you to do things you wouldn't normally consider. And in a dimension where the mind is the defining reality, the voice has a body of its own.

Shadow had heard that voice only once. It had been drowned out by Maria, and he had forgotten until now, but…

"Oh, eww! Gross!" Sonic suddenly yelped.

"What?" Tails asked, "What is it, Sonic?"

"I think that thing just said it used to live inside the Biolizard! Parasites are _so_ disgusting!" Sonic cried.

"**And here I thought you were nothing more than a mere idiot,**" said the smoke-Biolizard, "**But in truth, the creature you call Biolizard had no mind of its own - barely any instincts as well. I found it to be quite a fertile planting ground for my consciousness…even after the good doctor prevented me from carrying out my destiny and sealed that bulbous body away.**"

Here it grinned, flashing the enameled gums that Shadow could so easily remember closing down upon him in battle.

"**Not that having a body prevented me from seeking out others. The wounded mind is so easy to take into my control,**" it continued, before turning to stare directly at the black Ultimate Life Form.

"**Except for you,**" it growled, "**You got away. I had thought you might resist, but never to escape me. And that's why you have to die now.**"

"Gee, where have I heard that before?" Shadow wondered aloud, bracing himself for who-knew-what.

For some reason, the smoke-Biolizard being blasted by a burst of bright Chaos Energy from the side where none of them was standing wasn't high on Shadow's list of Things to Happen Next. Although, Shadow reasoned to himself afterwards, he really shouldn't have been surprised.

It wasn't like _Raven_ would be scared of this particular overgrown lizard, no matter what it was capable of.

Unfortunately, one thing it was still capable of was resisting direct attacks. The leathery skin absorbed the energy and the blast shattered into fragments of harmless light.

"**What do we have here?**" the smoke-Biolizard wondered, sounding partly amused and partly miffed, "**You now wish to prove your usefulness to me and finally go through with it?**"

Raven's face was as expressionless as it had been when he'd woken up. Although his teeth were bared and gritted, it was as if his mouth was not a part of his face, so little did it tell of the white hedgehog's mood.

But he did shake his head.

"You will not kill him," Raven informed the reptilian apparition, "I will shred you if you try. He is mine. MINE!"

"Hey, is this good or bad?" Sonic stage-whispered to Tails and Knuckles.

"I guess its good," Tails whispered back, keeping his own voice actually low, "Raven doesn't want the Biolizard to kill Shadow."

"You're forgetting," Knuckles cut in, not bothering to lower his own voice, "Raven just doesn't want this Biolizard to kill Shadow. He practically said as much - he wants to be the one who does it."

"I'm not so sure," Tails replied, expression thoughtful.

"Um, guys? Less thinky more runny!" Interrupted the blue hedgehog, leaping out of the way - and dragging the fox and echidna with him - of a big black tail.

Shadow had no more time to pay attention to the others after that, because that same tail quickly swung around to try the same maneuver on him.


	23. The Thing That Should Not Be

Heh heh...here's the next chapter of this fic, posted today and not some other day next week by popular demand!

...That, and I was bored and it was fun. The same reason you get up in the _morning_ during vacation.

Disclaimer: Authoress does not own Sonic, but claims ownership of Raven, the protagonist, and the Fount of Light.

* * *

If the Fount of Light had been confusing originally, annoying after a while, and a serious pain in the neck before this newest turn of events, Sonic decided, then now it had reached a whole new level of incredibility with this Shadow-Biolizard rematch.

Basically ignoring the others present - except for the occasional swat aimed their way - the huge lizard was busily trying to exterminate Shadow the Hedgehog once and for all. Shadow wasn't making it easy for it, but he wasn't making much progress against the Biolizard either.

Eh, Biolizard, evil mind-controlling space-creature located inside scenic Biolizard Brains…same dif. As far as Sonic was concerned, either prospect was just like this place - totally insane.

And speaking of insanity…

A Chaos Blade bounced off the Biolizard's neck and took out a good chunk of ARK, right above their heads. Tails and Knuckles coughed as they were showered with dust - all that remained of the metal bulkhead up there - and Sonic glared at Raven, who was totally ignoring how much collateral damage he was causing.

"This is getting _mighty_ pathetic," Sonic grumbled to himself as he leapt into the fray.

Shadow and his Chaos Spears were having just about as much effect on the thick-skinned Biolizard as Raven and his Chaos Blades, but Sonic was going to try something a little different. He aimed for the big lizard's back, where the life-support unit had been during their last encounter.

Destroying the mechanism that kept it alive would slow this overgrown salamander down, he figured.

Much to Sonic's disappointment and dismay, this version of the Biolizard was completely iron-lung-free. All that there was up on the beast's back was an area of soft, unarmored skin.

…Yes, that's right: soft, _unarmored_ skin.

"Mmm, I **think** I can live with this," Sonic said to himself.

Then he let loose with a series of quick spindashes. When the Biolizard screamed and thrashed in the unexpected pain of it all, Sonic finished his fun off with a nice Sonic Wind, before leaping for safety and running like hell.

Which meant that most of the black energy balls sent his way missed. The last two sent him head-over-heels and down into one of the many holes that currently made up most of the floor. But Sonic wasn't worried - especially since Tails was right there to give him a hand and a lift.

"You're heavier then you were last time," Tails grunted as he brought the blue hedgehog to safety.

"No I'm not," Sonic replied.

Meanwhile, the Biolizard was lashing out with renewed viciousness, trying to keep its opponents at bay while it tried to deal with such a large chink in its armor. It couldn't do a thing, though, and a few Chaos Spears - plus one Chaos Blade - managed to hit home.

"**INSECTS!**" It roared, "**You are NOTHING! NOTHING!**"

"If we're 'nothing'," Shadow called right back in a tone of voice to make Sonic proud, "Then why can't you keep up, you big nematode!"

"Oh _no_," Tails and Knuckles groaned, "Sonic's bad influence is spreading…"

"All _right!_" Sonic cheered, "I have no idea what a nematode is, but you tell 'em, Faker!"

Shadow shot a sour look at the blue hedgehog. That millisecond was all the Biolizard needed to strike: Shadow was slapped into the air with violent force as the Biolizard's body rippled and changed.

The change was slow, like the formally smooth smokiness of the monster's flesh had turned to thick and gooey syrup. Yet it managed, trading in the Biolizard-look for something similar, but less bulky.

"Is this that monster's true form?" Knuckles wondered.

"**True form?**" sneered the monster, "**Do not admit to your stupidity like that, Emerald Watcher. I was created without form, and exist only to destroy. I do not need something as pathetic as a body for that.**"

Just as Sonic was about to pipe up, pointing out how it had been the Biolizard until a little while ago, it lashed out with a heavily clawed limb. Much to everyone's shock - especially Shadow's, who was the target for this move - the leg-hand grew and grew, stretching like taffy.

"**If I squeeze you hard enough, will your head pop off?**" it wondered, flashing a full set of pointy teeth at the hedgehog in its now-tightening grasp, "**Or should I bite you in two? Eat you whole, perhaps…**"

"What is WITH you!" Tails yelled, unable to keep it back, "Why are you only out to kill Shadow!"

Amazingly, the smoke-lizard-monster looked very pleased to be asked this question. It even stopped increasing the pressure it was squeezing Shadow with as it turned towards the others to answer Tails.

"**Little two-tail**," it said in an almost amicable purr, "**Would you not be very upset if an intricate plan of yours was ruined, despite any effort to prevent failure? And then you are all but destroyed when you attempt to take matters into your own hands to see your plan go through?**"

"…And what plan are we discussing, exactly?" Tails ventured to ask, hoping to distract the monster long enough for someone to do something.

"**Why, the plan of the Eclipse Cannon, naturally**," purred the monster, "**Originally an instrument to break up incoming planet-breaker meteors so that your world could remain safe…it even had such a pathetic name. 'Savior Gun', I believe it was. Nevertheless, when I managed to drive that Gerald human from grief into madness, it was easy to make the needed changes.**"

Here, the monster took a moment to glare at Shadow, who was vainly trying to squirm free.

"**But then certain people took far too long and messed up far too much. Gerald's grandson and that Bat-girl were a pair of greedy fools, with no stomach for real** **entertainment. And then who moves against me but this little escapee…Gerald's so-called 'Fool-proof Dupe'. The Good Professor was so certain that his memory-wipe would never wear off…**"

You could hear a pin drop after the last remark. Shadow was so shocked he even forgot about how he was trying to free himself.

Luckily for his continued life and its existence, Raven was not paying nearly enough attention to be shocked stiff. Wielding a longer-than-average Chaos Blade like a big yellow sword, he jumped from the ceiling and sliced into the arm holding Shadow.

Whatever stretchy material the monster was made of now wasn't even half as armored as the Biolizard was. With a loud growl, the monster pulled the half of its arm still attached to its body closer for protection, while the part still gripping Shadow fell a few dozen feet to hit the floor.

Well, it was the floor of a room below the gym, but a floor was a floor, in Sonic's opinion.


	24. A Certain Shade of Green

Happy fans equals a happy authoress - so here's the next chapter!

Disclaimer: Chiwizard does not own Sonic

Claimer: Chiwizard claims the antagonist, Raven, and the Fount of Light

* * *

- -

The shadowy monster wasn't fazed by its lack of arm for long: within seconds, the remaining stump had stretched and grown to replace the missing section. It was as good as new, and ready for battle, as soon as it was completed.

A feat that Knuckles wanted very much to duplicate, as he glanced at his throbbing shoulder with undisguised irritation. With only one arm working, he couldn't glide and would barely be able to fight, and that meant he'd have to stay on the sidelines for the rest of their little adventure.

But right now, it looked like he wouldn't have been much help even he if _could_ fight. Sonic, Raven, and even Tails were landing good, solid hits that tore through the substance of the shadow-monster like rocks going through wet paper. But any holes or dents they made filled themselves back in almost immediately.

"Its like a living shadow," Knuckles said to himself as he picked his way over to one of the holes.

Down in the hole, he could see Shadow. The black Ultimate Life Form was trying to wriggle out of the grasp of the severed hand still clutching him, but wasn't making much headway.

Actually, Knuckles noticed when he climbed down and got closer, the hedgehog wasn't exactly trying very hard. Not that you could very well blame him…

"Hey," the echidna said when he was standing beside Shadow, "Anything broken?"

"…Just my sense of reality," Shadow replied after a few moments.

"In this place, I'm not surprised," Knuckles said in a weak attempt at a joke.

It wasn't funny, but Shadow forced an equally weak chuckle.

As soon as Shadow was able to finally pry himself out of the claws' grasp - with some assistance from Knuckles - the weird flesh swiftly melted into a puddle of darkness, and then into nothing.

Up on the level above them, there was a roar and the sound of something hitting a wall. A black spike pierced the ceiling near where the thud had come from, but judging from the annoyed bellow of the monster, whoever it had been attempting to skewer had gotten away.

"What now?" Knuckles sighed, "The more we fight in this place, the less chance we seem to have of winning. The only good news is that whole 'no-mentally-making-things-appear' power seems to have worn off for that Eclipse monster as much as it has for us."

"Eclipse? Sounds fitting," Shadow replied, "But about this place…what do you know about this place exactly, Knuckles?"

"Huh? Wait, the Fount of Light? Not much more than the odd rumor or two," the echidna said, "Basically, as a 'fountain of light', this place is supposedly a great source of wisdom, and also be the source of the power of the Master Emerald, I think. 'Belief is its only reality', I think, is the only other description I ever heard."

"Belief is _its_ only reality?"

"Yeah, that's what the inscription said," Knuckles answered, "What, Shadow? Does that actually help?"

"…Believe it or not," Shadow replied with a wan smile, "I think I might have an idea…"

The black hedgehog darted for the door of the room they were standing in, heading for the corridors and leaving a confused Knuckles behind. The echinda stared after the hedgehog in confusion, before turning to face his next difficult task:

How was he supposed to get back up to the gym with only one arm for climbing, anyway?

Luckily, or unluckily - depending on your point of view - that problem was soon taken care of for him.

The floor of the great gymnasium, having taken so much damage already, at last reached the point where it would take no more. The sheer dumb luck that Knuckles was standing right underneath a previously made hole was what prevented him from being crushed by the heavy metal ceiling as it came down around him in pieces.

There was a blue and orange blur at the edge of Knuckles' vision - Tails airlifting Sonic - and a white something-or-other had landed near where he was standing - in a place now cleverly concealed by several metal beams - but what was taking the majority of the red echidna's attention was the pitch-black monstrosity splattered over the wreckage in front of him.

Said monstrosity pulled itself back together in short order. It peered around the room with its beady white-glowing eyes, looking for something. When it didn't find what it was seeking, Knuckles found himself on the end of the Eclipse-creature's piercing stare.

Without meaning to, Knuckles' gaze darted to the open doorway that Shadow had just gone through.

"**Ah HAH! My prey will soon flee me no more**," 'Eclipse' cried, before charging for the corridor.

It wasn't exactly a great fit…but the corridor buckled and gave way under enough force, so Eclipse was able to charge along fairly rapidly.

"Hey, ugly! Where're ya going!" Sonic yelled, trying to goad the monster to return.

"And where is he going, anyway?" the blue hedgehog asked Knuckles when the taunting failed to achieve his objective.

"I have no idea whatsoever," Knuckles said, "…Unless…"

"Unless?" asked Tails.

"…Well, that IS the way Shadow went," Knuckles admitted.

"Oh, _great!_ Here we go again - c'mon Tails," Sonic sighed, heading for the partially demolished doorway.

Tails followed, whirling his tails to keep up. Knuckles was about to run after them, but a twinge reminded him exactly why he hadn't been upstairs fighting in the first place.

If only there was some way he could help the others! But **no**, with his arm out of commission, the best use Knuckles could think of for himself was freeing trapped Ultimate Life Forms.

Something hit the floor.

Turning, Knuckles was suddenly made aware that he was not actually alone in the room. Determinedly prying himself out from underneath the beams, exactly where Knuckles had spotted him landing, was Raven.

The white hedgehog was almost able to completely free himself, but one of the larger beams still held his leg firmly pinned. Not entirely certain himself what he was doing, Knuckles moved to try and help Raven out.

Forcing his way to where the beam touched the floor, Knuckles shouldered the heavy object and shoved with all his one-armed might. This lifted the beam up, barely high enough for Raven to quickly yank his leg out before it was crushed under the falling metal when Knuckles lost his grip.

Without thinking much of it, Knuckles then proceeded to offer Raven a hand in getting off the floor. And just as quickly yanked his hand back with a yelp when the crazed hedgehog bit him.

'Oh **great**,' Knuckles grumbled to himself as he inspected his wrist, 'And now I'm bleeding. Is whatever's making Raven insane contagious, like rabies? I haven't seen him foam at the mouth yet, but…'

"Its only because of Shadow that I'm not going to kick your butt for biting me," Knuckles growled.

"…Shadow?"

Raven's voice was very quiet, and a great deal less maniacal then the last time Knuckles had heard him speak - which had been while attempting to send Sonic and Shadow into oblivion. Even so, he still sounded like he was a few Emeralds short of a Chaos Control.

"Yeah," Knuckles retorted, "Your brother. For some reason he's jumping for joy to have you around."

The white one looked around the room a few times, then back at the red echidna.

"Where?"

"You mean, Where is Shadow?" Knuckles asked.

He got a nod.

"He went off into the corridors. And that Eclipse-thing took off after him."

Raven growled. Then he tried to get up. But since the leg that had been pinned earlier was bending in strange ways, Raven didn't get very far before toppling back over.

"…Oh great, I _know_ I'm going to regret this," Knuckles muttered to himself, "Hey, Raven."

Raven looked his way.

"…Well," Knuckles hesitated, "…I've only got one arm, and you've only got one leg…but together, we might be able to save your brother. What do you think…?"

Raven stared at him for a full minute, and then slowly nodded.

"Oh, and if you bite me again," Knuckles added conversationally as he assisted Raven in standing and then in heading down the destroyed corridors as fast as the two of them could go, "Shadow or no Shadow, I'll punch you into the next millennium. You got that, lunatic?"

There was no response, of course, but unless Knuckles' ears were playing tricks on him, he did hear Raven give out a very faint giggle.


	25. Bullet with Butterfly Wings

Sorry about the gap between updates. I have this annoyance called 'college' that keeps waking me up in the morning and all...

Disclaimer: Chiwizard does not own Sonic

Claimer: Chiwizard owns Raven, da Fount of Light, and that big-blueish-black-thing...ah, you know what I mean.

* * *

- 

Shadow skated like he had never skated before. Even though he was tired and bruised from what had gone on already, he still managed to pull off his top speed and then some as he zoomed down the corridors.

Nothing like a bloodthirsty monster snapping at your tail for motivation.

Eclipse - as Shadow had decided to start calling the monster in question - was apparently so interested in snapping his hedgehog target in half that he'd forgotten to slim down his body for quicker traveling through the narrow corridors. Instead, he was severely damaging the walls, ceiling, AND floor by shoving his Biolizard-sized body into the obstacles full-force.

Worse, he was actually _gaining_.

"Go kill someone else, you nasty slime-ball!" Shadow yelled over his shoulder, just before executing a brutal right-angle turn into another corridor.

Eclipse, unable to slow his momentum, rammed the wall head-first. Unfortunately, he was only stunned, and that was only for a few moments. Then he shifted his oozing body structure to suck in his head and neck, and then extend them out facing Shadow's new direction before pumping his legs and giving chase.

"**Oh, I will kill the others,**" Eclipse hissed, "**But you will be the one to die first!**"

"Why don't you put your money where your mouth is, booger-monster!"

A blue ball of spinning spikes ripped its way through Eclipse from behind, smashing right through the monster's head. Shadow skidded to a stop as the shapeless mass collapsed and Sonic landed deftly right beside him.

"Hey Shadow, the next time you start a race, wait for me!" Sonic grinned.

"**…You are steadily climbing the list of who I desire to eat, blue annoyance,**" Eclipse growled, pulling himself back together.

"And this is the point where we start running!" Shadow snapped, taking his own advice as he spoke.

Sonic was running beside him momentarily.

"So, where are we going?" he asked.

Shadow rolled his eyes in annoyance.

Even so, he lead Sonic and Eclipse exactly where he had been heading from the first moment the monster appeared on his tail - to an innocent-seeming room on the very edge of the ARK. This was one of the rooms that Shadow knew opened directly into near-vacuum, as well as being an access to…something else.

Unless his suspicions ended up being wrong…which would mean he and Sonic were going to be eaten instead of escaping.

When he entered the room, Shadow was permitted one millisecond to look around - thus confirming his theory - before he threw himself to the side of the doorway, dragging a very confused Sonic with him.

Eclipse, as before, was not able to slow himself down in time to prevent hitting the far wall. Which was with more than enough force to smash it open. The pressure-loss failsafe activated instantly, sealing the main door to minimize air loss to the station while everything still in the room was seized by the powerful suction.

Being the one who made the hole, Eclipse was already fighting to keep himself from being dragged out into space.

And having _planned_ for this to happen, Shadow had already activated the emergency controls that were right by the door.

Another of the special planning measures Gerald had designed, the 'escape tubes' would allow people caught in these sorts of situations to get to safety before they died from exposure to vacuum or were sucked out into space.

In reality, the warping tubes were really only good as a method for certain experiments to move from one part of the ARK to another without attracting the attention of whatever government observers there might be on board.

But in this case, the tubes served both purposes. The hatchway panel rose out of the floor, before yawning open.

Sonic, who had not been informed of any of this, looked particularly bug-eyed as he clung to Shadow for dear life. His yelping as the black hedgehog shoved him into the tube head-first was amusing. Shadow immediately threw himself in to follow, palming the hatch shut as he went.

Then it was just a wild ride, being sucked through the twisting, turning tube system, until Shadow was spat out again. This was more uncomfortable, since he landed on the dazed and confused Sonic who hadn't had enough time to get out of the way.

"Get off, Shadow," Sonic groaned, "You weigh a ton!"

"I almost impaled myself on your spikes, you know," Shadow grumbled, getting to his feet and helping Sonic to do the same.

"…So, does this mean the booger-lizard monster is finally gone?" the blue hedgehog asked.

From inside the warping tube they had just exited, there was a faint roar of annoyance.

"…Guess not then," Sonic sighed, "Stubborn, ain't he?"

"Hey, where'ya going?" he added, seeing Shadow was walking out the door.

"Where I was originally headed. The control room," Shadow explained.

"Why'ya going there?" Sonic inquired, trotting along behind the other.

"…A thought I had," Shadow replied, "Right now, the Fount of Light is presenting itself in the form of the ARK."

"Yeah?"

"And no doubt you've noticed how certain…benefits, have faded?"

"How could I not?" Sonic muttered sarcastically.

"Well, my thought was that if the Fount of Light is acting like the ARK, it means the whole place has really turned into the ARK. Therefore, if I access the control room, I should be able to control this entire dimension."

"Whoa!" Sonic exclaimed, "Now THAT'S the best idea I've heard all day! You just lead the way, Faker!"

There was a pause in the conversation. Then…

"Are you ever going to stop calling me that?"

"Nope."

"…Jerk."


	26. Beginning to See the Light

Congrats, all. This chapter means that this fic has the exact same number of chapters as Crosswise (my other major Sonic story).

This is also my most popular story - judging from the reviews an' all - but you're not here to listen to me talk about that. You're here for the fic.

Thus, the fic:

(Disclaimer: Chiwizard only owns the stuff she invented)

* * *

- 

The path that lead to the Colony Control Room was exactly how Shadow had pictured it. All the correct turns and lifts were in place and working perfectly. There was a definite sensation of some of the walls not being solid, and other objects blinked in and out of existence when the hedgehogs weren't directly looking at them, but otherwise things seemed almost…n_ormal_.

It was too good to be true.

"Hey, I remember this part," Sonic exclaimed after one turn, "It's a huge total straightaway here, right?"

"That's right," Shadow replied, glancing over his shoulder.

"That means we can run straight the rest of the way!" the blue hedgehog laughed, "Last one there is a slow hedgehog!"

"Sonic, that is the most ridiculous…" Shadow hesitated when he saw Sonic was actually trotting ahead and getting away, "…Hey! Wait for me!"

He had just started to skate when something ripped through the floor plating behind them. Not to either of their surprises, that something was pitch-black in color and oozed unpleasantly.

And if they'd kept to their previous pace, both hedgehogs would have been standing right where there was no more floor now.

"See, my ideas are GOOD ideas," Sonic grinned, before barreling down the corridor at high speed, paced immediately by the black Ultimate Life Form.

…

Sonic and Shadow weren't the only ones in the mass race towards the control room.

Elsewhere, Tails had come up with a similar idea as Shadow's - of using the colony's controls to flush out the big black monster - and was making his way there.

And ahead of even the running pair of hedgehogs, Knuckles and Raven were almost to their destination.

But right at the control room, the ARK began to seriously change.

The walls, floor, and ceiling, instead of being the usual metal, seemed to be almost gauzy…it was shimmering and translucent.

The corridors curved in sudden random directions, twisting and turning in an amazing labyrinth.

Everything had a sudden pearly sheen, and it was all delicate and smooth and slippery to the touch.

It was exactly like being inside a huge, beautiful brain.

Which, as far as the Fount of Light was concerned, was what the control room was.

…

"Way freaky, way TOO freaky, I REALLY don't like freaky," Sonic was half-muttering, half-chanting to himself as he and Shadow ran/slid down the freakiest bit of freakishness they'd all gotten to enjoy yet.

At least the Evil-Boogerlizard monster had gotten separated from them at a sudden and completely unexpected fork in their road. But whatever was going on, they couldn't stop to check things out, or even go back the way they'd come.

Sonic knew it for a fact because he had tried. Shadow, what with having absolutely no traction, hadn't, but the evidence was clear.

But maybe it didn't really matter. Everyone was going to end up in the same place, anyway - all paths lead to the control room, or whatever-it-was that the Fount of Light was using the control room as.

'Like what, an ice-hockey rink?' Sonic thought to himself, 'Heck, I should probably be glad we're not underwater, at least…'

"How _long_ is this _stupid_ tunnel of slipping-ness gonna go _on_ for?" he whined.

Shadow sent him a glance, and it was partially sympathetic…but clearly the black one's tolerance was starting to run rather low.

And Sonic didn't blame him one bit. All this mess, what with Shadow's psychotic older brother, the even-more-psychotic-evil-booger-thingy living inside Shadow's psychotic older brother, and this WAY-too-freaky-dimension they were stuck in…

"It's time to speed this thing up," Sonic thought out loud, before curling up into a ball and starting to spin super-fast. And the walls flashed by, faster and faster - NOW he was getting somewhere!

A blur, off to the side, showed that Shadow was taking his lead. Rainbows were nice and all, but whatever impossibly-freaky-yet-probably-utterly-crucial-thing that was waiting for them needed to be gotten past A.S.A.P. Especially for the sake of Sonic's sanity.

Almost as if the Fount of Light had been waiting for them to start hurrying, the tunnel twisted inwards, directly towards the central control room, and sloped almost straight down. Then it was a bouncy and skiddy ride to the doors of the control room - the only thing in this part of the ARK that looked like it was supposed to be part of the ARK.

The inside looked almost exactly as it should, too - there was more floor space and all, but the Fount of Light might have been expecting its incoming guests.

What those guests did NOT expect was what was waiting for them.

After all, brain_ is_ a delicate, irreplaceable thing. And it IS defended by its antibodies.


	27. Face In A Crowd

Here's the next chapter for you all to enjoy and ...do some other word that also starts with 'en' so that it rhymes.

Oh man, I just have to say - you guys are going to HATE me for this! Why? _You'll_ see.

You read fic now.

Disclaimer: Authoress does not own Sonic

Claimer: Authoress owns (among other things) Raven, the Fount of Light, Eclipse, and a mega-sized pile of manga

* * *

- 

Tails had never been to the Colony Control Room - he'd attacked the power generators when Sonic had been heading there, the first time they'd been to the ARK - but he wondered if it didn't look too different in real life.

There were several big doors that opened to the room - the shiny things right outside were definitely non-ARK material - and there was a central pillar thing where the controls were located.

To get to said controlling pillar, one had to traverse the many suspended platforms over the otherwise floorless room.

Below the platforms, several large, 2-D holographic maps circled the center of the room. They all seemed to be maps of a planet from space, but otherwise they weren't really displaying any sort of data.

But that wasn't the strangest part.

No, the strangest part was that standing right by the keyboard was a small figure. A familiar figure. And one that Tails only just now realized had been missing from their group for a while now.

Little Shadow.

The young hedgehog's expression was mild, almost uninterested. Even as the nasty black monster of darkness entered the room through another of the doors - and when Sonic and Big Shadow burst in through a third - the dark gray hedgehog barely seemed to notice his visitors.

- 

"What the heck's goin' on here!" Tails heard Sonic demand as he spotted Young Shadow waiting for them.

"**Is this the last pathetic defense you fools thought to stop me with?**" the monster of darkness hissed, clearly amused.

"Oh _no_," Sonic snapped, changing from shocked to determined in a split-second, "I won't let you dribble even the littlest bit of your booger-ness on those controls!"

Shadow moved to stand with him, even though the black hedgehog was already tired and sore - not to mention really confused by what his memory/self was doing here ahead of them.

Growling in delight, the monster lunged for them.

There was a shout, from a doorway behind Tails. And the voice sounded suspiciously like -

"_FLY, RAVEN!_" Knuckles bellowed, whirling around and hurling the white - not to mention crazed - hedgehog in question at the monster like a champion discus thrower.

And that's just what Knuckles was, apparently. Raven curled into a spinning ball, increasing his speed in midair as he impacted the icky monster head-first.

In slow motion, the spinning ball of white-and-silver quills dug into the monster's gooey body, cutting it almost in half.

"**You think I will fall for this trick twice!**" the monster roared, and jerked itself around.

Amazingly - not to mention unfortunately - Raven was thrown clear of the body while the wound melted away again. Just like all the other times Tails or any of the others had injured it.

"When is that THING ever going to run out of energy!" Knuckles growled.

Tails twisted his tails around and took to the air, just in time to avoid a stray black tentacle smashing into his previous position. Things looked even worse with the bird's-eye-view, though.

The monster was batting away all attackers with its tentacles before their attacks could hit. It wasn't making any attacks of its own - aside from the odd attempted-tentacle-smashing of anyone who wasn't moving fast enough.

"That jerk," Tails said to himself, "He's waiting until we get too tired to defend ourselves before he finishes us off! Oh, if there was only some way to fix this…"

The kitsune's eye landed on the controls.

…Well, didn't the ARK have internal defense systems?

Going slowly so that the darkness monster wouldn't take notice of him, Tails flew over to where the controls stood, completely deserted - except for Little Shadow.

And when Tails had almost reached the pillar, he hit an invisible wall. It blocked the entire pillar from the rest of the control room. Landing, he tried to push through it but got nowhere.

Not even the sudden addition of Knuckles' fist to his pushing did any good.

Little Shadow, meanwhile, barely gave them a glance before turning back to watch the unfolding battle.

"Hey!" Tails cried, "Can you hear me in there?"

Upon realizing that he was being addressed - which took another minute - Little Shadow looked at him.

There was barely any recognition on the young hedgehog's face.

"Of course I can," Little Shadow replied, his tone cold.

"Okay," Tails said, "Um, so can you help us get past this wall that's here?"

"…I _could_," Little Shadow said.

"And will you?" Knuckles inquired.

"No."

"But why not? We need to use the controls to try and save our friends," Tails protested.

He got a blink in response. Then…

"You don't deserve to get any help."

"What do you mean by 'deserve', you little -" Knuckles began.

"You're all insignificant," Little Shadow interrupted, "Even them. Even HIM. I will learn more from watching you destroy one another than from anything else."

"…What are you?" Tails gasped.

"Don't you know?"

Little Shadow looked quite amused now.

"I suppose not…but I believe your kind calls me something like, 'The Fount of Light'." 


	28. Holier Than Thou

Okay you guys, I think I need to clarify what's going on here. Clearly some of you are so stupified that you can't think of what to write in reviews (I'm hoping...)

1. Eclipse is the bad guy. (Remember him? Nasty gooey creature of doom?)

2. The Fount of Light is a self-aware dimension, currently existing as a copy of the ARK from fifty-plus years ago

3. Little Shadow was originally a replaying memory, but is now a living creature in his own right (sort of). Little Shadow's_ mind_ is the mind of the Fount of Light, getting a closer look at the mere mortals.

I'm not giving anything else away yet. Not even if you ask me very nicely and shower me with reviews. Doesn't mean I'll turn down those reviews, though...

Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic

Claimer: I own Raven, Eclipse, and the Fount of Light

* * *

- 

"_You're_ the Fount of Light?" Knuckles repeated, incredulous.

"Did I stutter?" Younger Shadow snapped.

"Hmph," the echidna grumbled, glowering at the entirely-unimpressed hedgehog facing them, "So, you expect me to believe that the Master Emerald's power comes from you?"

"Hah!" Younger Shadow spat, "Shows what you know, _Guardian_."

Hearing his title sneered like that made Knuckles' hackles rise, but before he could do anything Younger Shadow continued speaking.

"Chaos is _chaos_. It doesn't come from anything, it just **is**. And I have a much better right to call that then you do, what with me _existing_ within that power."

"I think I understand," Tails piped up, "But why does that mean you won't let us help our friends?"

"Oh, you can go help them fight," Younger Shadow shrugged, "I'm not stopping you. But if I step in and give you an unfair advantage…what would it prove?"

"_Unfair_ -!"

"So, as far as you're concerned, this battle is just an example of good versus evil?" Tails continued, trying to understand.

"Not really," Younger Shadow replied, "Its more complicated than that. By learning how your minds operate, I can come closer to understanding what my own purpose is in existence. And dangerous situations require accelerating thought processes, therefore…"

"Is this really a good time for a philosophical debate?" Knuckles demanded.

"For you people? I'd imagine not," Younger Shadow answered with a thin smile.

The collision of Sonic and Raven with the platform floor right next to them emphasized his point. Shadow, on the other hand, was aimed a little higher and slammed head-first into the invisible barrier surrounding Younger Shadow and the control pillar.

"Oh no!" Tails gasped, jumping a gap in the platform to reach the fallen hedgehogs, "Are you guys all right?"

"Ugh…why are all Ultimate Life Forms so damn _heavy_?" Sonic groaned, shifting himself out from underneath Raven.

Raven said nothing in reply to remark, in fact he didn't really seem to register the presence of others at all. Shadow looked like he had a few choice remarks he wanted to use, but the fact that he was suddenly too dizzy to stand up prevented him from using them.

"Sonic!" Tails scolded - his only concern for the moment the well-being of his friends, "That's not nice at all! Plus its not like you have any right to talk."

"Hey, I actually run!" the blue hedgehog protested, "That means I get more exercise! Unlike **some** people who just skate around…"

And from Younger Shadow, there came the sound of laughter. He seemed very amused by the goings-on that occurred in this gap in the fighting.

"Even when facing difficulties, you think of such _little_ things," Younger Shadow mentioned after he stopped laughing, "It is that which makes me prefer your victory here, I think."

"Okay," Sonic replied, not understanding exactly what was going on but not really caring by now either, "Its nice to know somebody's rooting for our side!"

"And we need all the support we can get," Knuckles said, "Raven's leg is busted, so is my arm, and I think Shadow has a concussion."

- 

He was supporting the black Ultimate Life Form as he spoke, so the others knew it was probably - not to mention unfortunately - true.

"Your foe is approaching," Younger Shadow mentioned, turning everyone's attention back to the large, gooey black creature currently invading their space.

"**You no longer present even the slightest bit of amusement**," the monster told them seriously, "**I would eat you now…**"

"But what?" Sonic immediately challenged, "Worried you might choke on one of us and finally die?"

"**Hardly**," the monster sneered, "**But no, blue simpleton. I have had a thought**."

"Really? Did it hurt?"

Tails hastily stifled a giggled behind his hands as the monster hissed in irritation at the offending hedgehog. Even though this situation looked so bad that it couldn't _possibly_ get any worse…to be on the safe side, it would be better not to make things worse.

The monster's white-glowing eyes narrowed, but instead of dishing out the instant death of the annoying blue hedgehog, it continued speaking as if it hadn't been so rudely interrupted.

"**Once you petty fools are out of my way -**" said the monster - "**This 'Fount of Light' shall be a most useful tool. But what good is such a tool if I have no one to test its capabilities on, hmm yes?**"

"This 'tool', as you so call it," Tails surprised himself by saying, "Isn't yours to take."

"**I see**," purred the monster, "**So, you will defeat me all by yourself, little fox cub? And then you will take the powers of this realm for yourself. I wondered why you weren't amongst the ones fighting me…**"

"That's not true!" Tails protested.

"**Maybe not**," the monster conceded with a shrug, "**You are, after all, young and stupid. But there are others here who would use this power as they wished…**"

"NO one's using the power of this place," Knuckles snapped, "Not Tails, not us, and especially not you, Eclipse."

The last word caught the monster off-guard. It studied the echidna for a moment, and then shrugged again.

"**Whatever pathetic designation you wish to use for me is no concern of mine. Your concern should be more towards what is about to happen…**"

Much to everyone's alarm, they noticed that the control pillar was suddenly surrounded by a sea of writhing blackness. Eclipse's talking and shrugging had been a diversion, while he moved to take the controls by force from all sides at once.


	29. Brain Hack

Well gag me with a spoon and call me Shirley!

(Whatever THAT means...)

...Okay, and now that _that's_ out of my system, here's the update for you lot!

Disclaimer: Sonic not owned here

Claimer: Raven, Fount of Light, Eclipse, and all other invented stuff owned right here!

* * *

- 

Eclipse was surprised to find the invisible barrier there, but it didn't faze him for long. Inky tendrils writhed across the barrier's surface, probing for any opening they could get…and judging from Young Shadow's sudden upset expression, there was an opening there somewhere.

Right at the top of the room, in fact, where the barrier didn't _quite_ reach the ceiling.

Having found it, Eclipse poured himself inside with a roar of triumph.

And despite being the self-declared consciousness of a sentient pocket dimension, Young Shadow was reacting the way any kid his visible age would react, freezing in panic.

"Damn - JUMP, KID!" Knuckles bellowed.

Almost too late, Young Shadow sprang away from the control pillar - the barrier dissolving entirely when he passed through it - and skittered to safety behind the nearest person, who happened to be the original Shadow.

Not noticing, Eclipse swamped the control pillar, burying it from sight.

For a single petrifying second, everyone watched, waiting. What horrible thing would happen to their surroundings now that Eclipse was in control of the powers of the Fount of Light?

But the **last** thing they expected was…

…For absolutely nothing to change.

"Hey, did any of you guys notice anything?" Sonic piped up after another couple seconds of waiting.

"Nope."

"Nuh-uh."

"I guess that means nothing happened, huh?" Sonic said next.

"Yep."

"Usually does."

"Totally," Sonic agreed, "So how much longer will it take Boogernose to figure that out, though?"

"Why don't we try not being right next to him when he gets mad about it?" Knuckles agreed.

Since most of Eclipse was swarming the apparently-useless control pillar, it was easy to get past the rest of the gooey tentacles and get away from the center of the room.

Raven snapped his teeth and refused to be touched when Sonic bravely ventured to assist him, but the insane one apparently still honored Knuckles' promise to punch him into a whole new world of pain and didn't even try biting him when he was carried across.

So instead, Sonic helped Shadow, who wasn't as bad off as they had first thought. The black Ultimate Life Form was getting a little seasick from the way the floor kept pitching, but he was otherwise mostly okay.

The very instant their group got out of the range of Eclipse's still-solid tentacles, the monster let loose an inarticulate roar of frustration.

"**Where IS it!**" he growled, "**It's not here - these solid fixtures are completely USELESS!**"

He unwrapped himself from the pillar and turned to glare at the others in the room.

"**You will all die slowly and screaming if the one who is hiding the spark does not hand it over, pathetic animals**," Eclipse snarled.

"Spark? What now?" Sonic asked, glancing at the others.

"I know what he means - the source of the Fount of Light's power," Knuckles explained, "In theory, that should also be what controls it…"

The echidna trailed off, staring right at the dark gray hedgehog who was standing beside his elder counterpart. The others followed his gaze, confused, until it hit them.

"He controls the Fount of Light?" Shadow blinked, "But how…?"

"That's because he IS the Fount of Light - or more exactly, you're a physical incarnation of the thinking conscious mind of the Fount of Light, who took this shape because you were curious about us and wanted to know more, am I right?" Tails explained/asked Shadow.

Fount Shadow blinked, and grinned sheepishly.

"And he thought **he** used to talk a whole lot," Fount Shadow retorted, jabbing a thumb at Real Shadow.

Tails and Real Shadow both colored with embarrassment, but unfortunately for them all Eclipse had been listening in to their conversation due to a mild curiosity about why these inferior creatures weren't currently obeying him, attacking him, or fleeing for their miserable lives.

"**Yes, THANK you for that succinct explanation, little two-tails**," Eclipse purred, "**But this adventure has grown most boring - therefore I'll take my power AND finish you creatures off right here and now!**"

Dropping the last vestiges of a solid body, Eclipse threw himself at them.

Before even Sonic could take a step - not that he remembered to, as he was a little stupefied at the time - they and everything else all vanished into a sea of total darkness.


	30. How Blue Can You Get

Hola! Welcome to the fic!

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I only have one thing to say about this next chapter: **Fleetway!**

Wait, that's probably too much info right there...

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I HAVE REDISCOVERED AMPLE SPACING! YOSH!

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Disclaimer: see other chapters for this stuff

Claimer: yeah, idjit

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The second he woke up, Sonic dearly wished he hadn't. Wherever he was now was _freezing!_

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It needed about fifty space heaters, BADLY…or maybe an active volcano or three. Yeah, huge pools of boiling, bubbling lava sounded **particularly** warm and cozy right about now.

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Thinking of the many much warmer places he'd rather be, the blue hedgehog forced his heavy eyelids open and his heavy body upwards. And for the record, his personage was only heavy because he was so wiped out.

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The view was eerily familiar. Everything was blank. Sky, floor, everything.

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But there was one slightly obvious difference between the way the Fount of Light looked upon their arrival and the way it looked right now: instead of being completely white, everything was pitch-black. The darkness made it hard to see very far in any direction.

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Sonic could barely even see _himself_ - his regular cool blueness was now a tired, washed-out blue-gray.

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"Wow. Cheerful place," Sonic muttered sarcastically as he looked around for the others.

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"You should see it during tourist season," an oddly familiar voice agreed sarcastically from behind him.

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Sonic turned around to find that he was staring right at…himself?

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For a second, he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him and that he was really looking at Shadow or even Raven. But no. The hedgehog Sonic was staring at was his shade of blue, and had his shade of green eyes, and was even wearing the exact same pair of sneakers.

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"Something on my face?" the Sonic-clone asked.

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"…You…look…EXACTLY like me," Sonic forced out.

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"Really? **Wow**," the Sonic-clone answered sarcastically, "I wonder why? Could it be because I AM you? You are in a dimension that makes your thoughts a reality, you know."

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"Yeah," Sonic agreed after a second of thinking about it, "You've got a point. In that case, nice to meet me!"

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"Charmed, I'm sure," the Sonic-clone laughed.

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"Yeah," Sonic added, "And by the way - if this was inevitable and all, what took you so long to get here?"

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The Sonic-clone shrugged.

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"Better late than never, right? Although," the clone added in a suddenly serious tone, "It's a good thing I'm getting the chance to talk to you. Otherwise, you're going to end up making a mistake that you'll regret forever."

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"A mistake?" Sonic blinked.

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The Sonic-clone nodded emphatically.

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"Once you finish saving the day here an' all," the clone explained, "You ought to make sure you take a…let's call it a souvenir…back with you."

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"What? Wait, are you suggesting I leave this crazy dimension with some sort of new power or something?"

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"Hear me out!" the Sonic-clone insisted, "I mean, _think_ about it. Once this mess is cleared up, what can you do? I'll be willing to bet you that you won't even get a single year between this and the next thing that'll try destroying the world."

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"It wouldn't be much of a world with no dangers from **anything**," Sonic said uncertainly.

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"Well, yeah," the Sonic-clone agreed, "But you can agree that way more danger comes from exactly one person than it should, right?"

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"…You mean Dr. Eggman," Sonic pointed out.

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"Yeah. Why not take something back to stop his evil plotting with once and for all? And if you can use it to take care of a few other dangers, so much the better. I mean, you _do_ save the world almost constantly, so why _shouldn't_ you get a break?"

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This actually sounded like a good idea. Not that Sonic would be fool enough to take much of something, but maybe a killer new move or two would be okay? Even though it would have to be something spectacular to convince…

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"Wait a second," Sonic told the Sonic-clone, "I'm kinda down on this plan of yours, but what about Tails and the others?"

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"Yeah, I was about to get to them," the Sonic-clone said - it looked fairly disapproving on this subject, "Those people? You don't need them."

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"I don't _need_ -?"

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"I mean, sure, they're great people and all," the Sonic-clone was quick to reassure him, "But c'mon! You're a regular one-hedgehog army! Having to look out for their safety is only holding you down!"

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"…But…"

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"Do you **really** need Shadow to Chaos Control you from place to place? Nope," the Sonic-clone said, "Do you **really** need Miles to fly you around all the time - and it was **your** plane before he got to it, remember? And then there's Knuckles - half the time he's on Dr. Eggman's side. How can someone **that** easy to trick be anything more than deadweight?"

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"_Deadweight!_" Sonic protested.

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"I'm just telling it like it is," the Sonic-clone told him, "Trust me - after all, I am you. I'm just saying the things you're thinking, deep down inside. And that's why you can believe me when I tell you what you do and don't need."

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There was a pause while Sonic tried to think of a response to this.

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Eventually, he nodded.

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"You know what…you're absolutely right."

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"Of course I am," started the Sonic-clone, but Sonic interrupted him.

"You're right…about exactly _one_ thing," Sonic added.

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"Oh?" The Sonic-clone looked less then pleased.

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"And the thing about that thing is, you're completely right. Because you ARE, in fact, me."

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The Sonic-clone stared at him. But Sonic wasn't done.

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"The thing is, I know exactly **which** part of me you are, too. You're that nasty little voice in the back of my head - the one that thinks that I should quite saving this mostly ungrateful planet and mind my own business. Not to mention the one that thinks a gun and a couple of bullets is the best way to deal with Eggman once and for all.

"And the truth is…" the blue hedgehog continued, "You do have a point. A BAD point, but then again you're a…well, you're what I would be if I was THAT kind of person.

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"But I'm not. So you and your little plan can go take a long hike off the side of ARK, because I'm going to go find my friends."

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"Clever," the Sonic-clone replied, now looking angry, "_Too_ clever. And yet not quite clever enough. Because in this place, at this _moment_, I am more real than you are. And_ that_ means you're going to cease existing at **all** in another second."

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As the Sonic-clone spoke, its body started glowing, until with the bright flash Sonic found himself facing a clone of Super Sonic.

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An angry and especially EVIL Super Sonic who very much wanted to smash him into a pasty blue pulp.


	31. Hold Your Head

...So wired right now...so very wired...

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EP 3 ROOOOOOCCCCCKKKKS! **MUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!**

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And now, back to your regularly scheduled insanity.

(Disclaimer: see last chap.)

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"Prepared to die? Not that it matters if you **aren't**," The Evil And Unfortunately Also Super Sonic-clone sneered.

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The Real, Regular, And Now Screwed Sonic the Hedgehog tried to see if there was anything lying around that he could use to defend himself, but except for himself and the guy who wanted to beat his face in, there was nothing here.

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In hopes that the 'wish and it appears' thing was working again, Sonic concentrated very hard on the thought that he would REALLY like something to save his life right about now.

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And amazingly enough, something did.

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Even as the Super Sonic-clone took a step forward, raising its arms to attack, something from behind it flashed yellow. A slash through the body later, and a now very confused looking Super Sonic-clone dissolved into dust and nothingness.

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Leaving Raven and his Chaos Blade standing in his place.

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"Aw man!" Sonic yelped, jumping back from his 'savior', "Not _you!_ Not NOW, anyway!"

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"If I had known you would react like **this**, I wouldn't have bothered stepping in and saving your life in the first place," Raven retorted with a huff, bringing everything else Sonic was going to say to a screeching halt.

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This was a side of Raven that Sonic was completely unfamiliar with: calm, composed, rational…

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…Oh, not to mention that this version was actually SANE.

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"…Um…" Sonic started, "Hey, um…Raven?"

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"Yes?" the white and silver hedgehog replied.

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"…Ah, the heck with tact - Raven, why aren't you all crazy and rabid and gibbering and all anymore?"

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Raven's eyes narrowed at the unflattering description. That and the oversized Chaos Blade he was still holding onto helped Sonic to quickly decide to rephrase his question.

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"I mean…why aren't you out of your mind anymore?"

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Raven snorted, apparently amused by the idea.

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"Out of my mind? This _is_ my mind!"

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With that little declaration, Sonic mentally revised his estimate of Raven's current sanity level to Not As Sane As Previously Suspected.

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Unless, of course, this was the Fount of Light dressing up as someone else again. But that seemed kinda unlikely, what with the fact that they were all just swallowed by an icky black goober monster not too long ago.

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"You don't believe me, of course," Raven added, "But then again, you've never had your will crushed beneath that of a intergalactic monster who wants to destroy the universe, so why should you?"

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"Haven't done anything that specific, nope," Sonic agreed, "But I imagine we'll have plenty of time to talk about it later, once everyone's safe and we beat this snot-monster."

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"Quite optimistic of you," Raven replied, "Where shall we start then, O Savior of the Planet?"

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"First we find the others," said Sonic.

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He looked around again, but there was still no one around but himself and the not-so-crazy Raven.

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Huh…that gave him a weird idea.

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"Hey, if this is your mind, doesn't that mean you know your way around?" Sonic asked the other hedgehog.

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Raven's gaze went to the floor, his expression positively sheepish.

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"…I'm lost too," Raven admitted.

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"Oh really? Hey, no sweat!" Sonic grinned, "I know EXACTLY how to stop being lost!"

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"You do?"

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"Yep," the blue hedgehog laughed, "All you gotta do is to run as fast as you can until you find someone…THEN you stop and ask them for directions!"

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Raven stared at him. Sonic could tell the other thought he was kidding. Well, he _wasn't!_ This had actually worked a bunch of times for him already. No reason that it wouldn't work now.

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"Hey, we're fast enough that running'll get us most anyplace anyway!" Sonic pointed out.

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And because he didn't feel like arguing anymore about it, Sonic ended the conversation in his favor by turning around and trotting off into the distance. Not wanting to be left behind, the white hedgehog started after him.

They didn't find anyone at first, but the dark dimension that had once been the Fount of Light was less creepy and unpleasant when one was moving around. Sonic loped easily along, while Raven skated slowly to his side.

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"So, Raven," Sonic said once they had been going on this way for a couple of minutes, "Any cute baby names for Shadow that I should know about?"

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The _only_ good thing about what had happened was that his arm had healed.

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As for the reason, Knuckles had no idea why.

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If this was a dimension as concocted by Eclipse, why would the monster want to do something that actually benefited his enemies?

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The echidna could only hope that this meant that Eclipse didn't have full control of the dimension. This was a cheering thought, since Knuckles had actually liked the Fount Shadow, who had been semi-nice in a freaky sort of way.

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Not so nice was this whole new twist of having a negative version of yourself popping out of thin air to bother you - and who would then attack you when you tried talking back or ignoring them.

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"Running around like an idiot isn't going to help anything, you know," said a voice.

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'As if on cue,' Knuckles grumbled, looking to see his negative doppelganger eyeing him speculatively.

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"Just shut up," Knuckles growled at the other, "And for the last time, I am NOT going to get rid of my friends just because YOU say it's the only way to keep the Master Emerald completely safe."

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The negative-Knuckles looked fairly taken aback.

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"All right, but -"

"No."

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"But I -"

"No!"

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"I'm trying to -"

"Shut up!"

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"Not until -"

"Shut up or you're going to lose the ability to speak _permanently!_"

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The negative-Knuckles paused to frown at Knuckles, who ignored it to enjoy the moment of peace and silence he'd finally gotten. Too bad it really was only a moment long.

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"You think you're so very clever, don't you?" the negative-Knuckles sniffed.

"If I say yes, will you leave and never come back?"

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"_Really_," the negative-Knuckles sighed, "It must be a miracle you have any friends at all, with an attitude like that. And speaking of miracles…if I DO leave, you're only going to be stuck with a reminder of when NOT to put seven Chaos Emeralds together. You'd be better off just sticking with me."

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"Whatever it is, I can handle it fine," Knuckles growled, "I'm more than capable of protecting myself."

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"I **doubt** it," the negative-Knuckles grinned, pointing over the echidna's shoulder before vanishing into thin air.

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From where it had pointed, there was a ferocious roar. And although it took Knuckles a minute to place the roar from his memory, when he realized who it had to be he groaned and turned, already preparing to run.

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Perfect Chaos glared back at him.

And this was a Perfect Chaos made of water…curiously reddish water that resembled blood FAR too much for Knuckles' liking…and it was a Perfect Chaos that screamed in anger and charged right for him upon eye contact.

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Knuckles bolted the other way.

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Being rather speedy - almost as fast as Tails, which really said something since only Tails was almost as fast as Sonic - Knuckles managed to forge a lead that kept him out of biting, smashing, and drowning range.

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So focused was he on running that he almost ran right into the two characters heading his way. He had only a second to register them as some of his missing companions, one white and one blue, before he was passing them.

0-

"Hey!" Sonic yelped.

0-

"Wrong way!" Knuckles bellowed at them over his shoulder as he didn't dare stop.

0-

0-

"What?"

"Huh - _AHHHH! BIG CHAOS! RUN!_"

0-

0-

A roar and an energy blast later, Knuckles found himself being passed by both a totally freaked out Sonic and a confused and strangely subdued Raven.

0-

In fact, they were going to leave both him and Perfect Chaos in the dust within seconds -

"Wait! Don't leave me back here with this thing!" Knuckles cried.


	32. Disposable Heroes

Okay, before you all get mad at me for not posting this sooner, hear me out. Weird stuff prevented me from posting earlier.

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First, the site kept giving me an error message when I tried to log in, then my computer started freezing up every time I tried to log onto the Internet, and finally the power went out of my house for five hours!

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Think somebody's trying to tell me something?

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Disclaimer: See previous chapters, O unbeliever you

Claimer: Ditto on above

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* * *

0- 

0-

0-

0-

With assistance from Sonic - as well as the bemused help of Raven - all three of them easily escaped the pursuit of the Perfect Chaos apparition.

0-

Although Knuckles was annoyed to be dragged along like a rag doll by Sonic, the two hedgehogs were going at almost full speed and he didn't want to be left on his own again in this dark version of the Fount of Light.

0-

Not to mention that Sonic completely refused to slow down even a bit, wanting very much to find the others and get the heck out of this twisted dimension before something else they knew reared its head and attempted to kill them.

0-

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"So, anybody know which direction we should go?" Sonic asked over his shoulder. 

"When this was the ARK, the layout was obvious," Raven mentioned unhelpfully.

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"Okay," Sonic replied, apparently taking the stance that any info is useful info, "In that case, if I was a big an' nasty space booger, where would my brain be?"

0-

0-

"Well," Knuckles said, managing to sound collected despite how he was being dragged along by his arm at hundreds of miles per hour, "Some parts look lighter, but only probably because they're there to create false hope, and other parts look darker, but probably are the places we **really** don't want to go to."

0-

"_Man_, Red, ever think about dumping that perky-happy attitude for something a little more realistic?" Sonic shot back sarcastically.

0-

"Still," the blue hedgehog added, "I wouldn't mind being able to find Shadow and Tails, at least…"

0-

0-

There was a minute of silence, as he and Knuckles wracked their brains for any ideas. Even a Chaos Emerald or something like that might have been at least a little bit useful, and Sonic made a point of mentioning that out loud, in order to break the deafening silence and spookiness of their current location.

0-

Another side effect of Eclipse's meddling was that you couldn't keep yourself from feeling upset, they were discovering. (Well, Sonic and Knuckles had noticed this, at least. If Raven was actually feeling at all upset, he was hiding it super well.)

0-

0-

Knowing it wasn't at all helpful and trying not to antagonize two of the more dangerous people he was acquainted with, Sonic deliberately internalized his stream of complaints.

0-

If they only had a Chaos Emerald - mentally moaned Sonic - then it would be easy to find the others, with Chaos Control. But **no**, they were stuck inside a stupid living dimension of Chaos power, which was apparently located inside eight power gems - the Master and the seven Chaos - and had absolutely no hope of reaching the outside world…

0-

…Part of that last bit niggled at Sonic, even though he tried to ignore it, until finally he spotted the answer. And then it seemed so completely OBVIOUS that he wondered why they hadn't thought of it SO much earlier than this!

0-

0-

"_I GOT IT!_" Sonic bellowed, skidding to a sneaker-shrieking halt.

"**GAH!**" Knuckles screamed, as his ample forward momentum sent him sailing ahead extremely fast.

0-

Raven, who couldn't stop on a dime like Sonic because of his air jets, ended up being the echidna's landing pad - several meters away.

0-

0-

"ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME OR SOMETHING?" Knuckles yelled, clambering off the totally stunned white hedgehog.

0-

"Eh heh heh…sorry, Knux, forgot you were back there," Sonic said sheepishly, "But hear me out! I _just_ figured out how to get right to where the others are!"

0-

"Oh really?" Knuckles replied, still looking a bit ticked off.

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"Yeah," Sonic continued, "I mean, we're sort of _inside_ the Chaos Emeralds right now, so _I_ figure we can do _Chaos Control!_"

0-

"You mean you can do Chaos Control," Knuckles corrected, but he looked interested.

0-

"It won't work," Raven said - he had recovered and was picking himself off the ground as he spoke.

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"Why not? What makes you so sure?" Sonic shot back

0-

0-

"The Chaos Energy here isn't focused enough to utilize for anything as powerful as a teleport," the white hedgehog explained dryly, "It takes a certain level of a concentration of Chaos Energy for any sort of manipulation to work - otherwise the naturally-occurring ambient Chaos Energy corrects the perceived alterations before anything actually happens in the point of view of our 3-dimensionally based linear timeframe…and even then, it takes more energy from the user to make any such alterations if the focus is weak."

0-

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"…I only understood about half of that," Knuckles admitted after a moment of hard thinking.

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"**Way** less over here," Sonic added, "And if there's some scientific explanation for Chaos Control, why didn't Shadow mention it when we asked him about it?"

0-

Raven broke his somber expression for one of _slight_ self-satisfaction.

0-

"Shadow probably didn't tell you because he most likely never learned to fine-tune his control, like **I** did," the white and silver Ultimate Life Form replied, "Gerald wanted to use that energy for medical-type purposes, after all…so naturally he needed to know exactly how it all worked.

"In layman's terms," Raven added, "We can't use Chaos Control in here because we need the same amount and type of energy as a Chaos Emerald, which we do not have."

0-

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Knuckles sighed and looked disappointed. Sonic, however, was remembering something.

0-

"…_Okay_…but what if we had something with the same type of energy, but that wasn't as strong as a real Chaos Emerald?" Sonic asked Raven, "Could you still use it for Chaos Control?"

0-

Raven thought about it for a bit.

0-

"…I _suppose_ it's theoretically possible…" he allowed.

"Hah **HAH!** And _nuts_ to the theory-dealie part, 'cuz I already did it!" Sonic grinned, "Knuckles, _you_ remember! On ARK? With Tails' fake Chaos Emerald? Big flash of light?"

0-

"…I also remember you fainted," Knuckles agreed, "But we don't have any fake Emeralds here…do we?"

0-

"Nah," Sonic shrugged, "But **I** figure a bunch of those Chaos Blades mashed together is the next best thing!"

0-

0-

Raven blinked, stared at Sonic as if hoping he was kidding - he wasn't - and then turned to Knuckles.

0-

"Is…he always this…spontaneous?"

0-

Knuckles shrugged.

0-

"I always figured it was because of his infinitesimally microscopic attention span," the echidna replied.

0-

While Sonic blinked, figured out he was being insulted, and good-naturally elbowed Knuckles in the ribs for the remark, and while Knuckles replied to that elbowing with a good-natured punch to Sonic's shoulder of slightly greater force, Raven worked on making a tight enough focus of Chaos Energy for Sonic to use in Chaos Control.

0-

Even though it was Raven's stored energy, he couldn't hold it in place and teleport at the same time. Plus Sonic, having done this before, was more than willing to engineer it again, whereas Raven, even during his most crazed moments, had never been much on suicide.

0-

0-

When the time came for the great experiment to take place, Sonic reached out to touch the vibrant yellow - not to mention throbbing - bundle of energy Raven was focusing between his cupped hands. Knuckles held onto Sonic's shoulder and Raven's arm, making certain none of them would be left behind.

0-

"Who should I aim for, Shadow or Tails?" Sonic asked.

0-

"Shadow," Knuckles answered, "In case we need to do this again and Raven runs out of power."

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"Which is highly likely," Raven added.

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"Okie-dokie," Sonic said, his enthusiasm only slightly forced, "Here we go! Chaos…_Control!_"


	33. Price To Pay

Good news, Everyone!

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I just saved a lot of money by switching to...oh wait, wrong header.

Never mind, the news is all bad and you wouldn't want to hear about it anyway.

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Disclaimer: Chiwizard does NOT own Sonic

Claimer: Chiwizard DOES own Raven, Eclipse, and the Fount of Light

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* * *

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0-

0-

When all this was explained to Shadow later, he would think it was actually surprisingly clever of Sonic to think of such an idea, given the discouraging circumstances.

0-

When it was _actively_ taking place, all Shadow could figure out was that some sort of weird light had appeared over his head, spat out what looked like three people, and vanished -

0-

Leaving the four of them to experience the pitiless wonders of gravity first-hand.

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"WHOA!" Shadow yelped - a perfectly reasonable response, as he was currently being crushed underneath two other hedgehogs and an echidna.

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Tails, however, had no sympathy whatsoever for the black one's plight.

"Hooray! Sonic and the others found us!" the two-tailed fox cheered, darting right over to the pile to greet his friends.

0-

Of the three incomers, only Knuckles was still conscious, and he had received a lovely pounding headache from the trip. And as far as he was concerned, Tails' chirpiness was **not** preferable to a huge platter of aspirin.

0-

"The next time…" Knuckles groaned as he wormed his way out from being underneath Sonic and on top of Raven and Shadow, "Sonic gets a stupid idea like this…if I go along with it…someone slap me."

"I'm going to hold you to that," Shadow grumbled, dragging himself out from the bottom.

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"Oh, Shadow, I have good news for you," Knuckles added, nonplussed about having crushed the black hedgehog, "Apparently Raven's sane now. Not sure why though."

And having thus dumped this bombshell in Shadow's lap, Knuckles proceeded to move off and check their surroundings.

0-

0-

Freaky…it appeared that they were some sort of weird, medium-gray bubble, keeping them separate from the rest of the blackened Fount of Light. Despite its size - cramped now, with the addition of three more people - Knuckles had the oddest feeling that Shadow and Tails had fallen into this bubble immediately after Eclipse's charge, and hadn't left it at all since.

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The bubble's other occupant was probably the reason why.

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Sitting very quietly on the ground in the middle of the bubble was the Fount Shadow. He was holding something that looked like a gray bowling-ball in his hands, and was otherwise expressionless.

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"Didn't you get eaten?" was all that the echidna could think of to say.

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Fount Shadow blinked at him, and sighed.

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"If I can make _your_ thoughts into reality easily enough, doing the same with mine is much more basic stuff," Fount Shadow explained - perfectly aware that the newly reviving Sonic and Raven were also listening to him, "Before I was 'eaten', I used my power to remake my consciousness into what you see."

0-

"That means you're out of power and we're _doomed_, right?" Sonic piped up.

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"Actually, I don't think so," Tails mentioned, "He's the one making this bubble, and as long as we're in here, Eclipse can't find us even with the powers of the Fount of Light…I think."

"He'll have noticed we teleported in here, though," Knuckles grumbled.

0- 

As if on cue, something rumbled outside of the bubble's perimeter. Something hazy and snake-shaped writhed, and two pinpricks of white light peered at them.

0-

"**I sssseeeeee yyyyoooouuuuu,**" Eclipse sang-purred from just outside the bubble of apparent safety.

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The occupants of said bubble immediately backed a step away from the sides.

"**Scurrying insects, hiding under a rock…**" Eclipse laughed, "**Why don't you come out and play, cowards…**"

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"Thanks for the offer, but no freakin' way!" Sonic shot back.

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"What do we do now?" Knuckles asked, "We're like fish in a barrel, as long as we're stuck in here."

0-

"Yeah, but at least our friendly neighborhood oil stain can't fit his enormous derrière in here," Sonic replied, pointing to the probing tentacles that couldn't find even a single opening in the bubble, "I guess all that power he ate made him even fatter than Eggman!"

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"Oh, Sonic, sometimes I don't know what to do with you," Tails sighed.

0-

"C'mon, don't be ridiculous, Sonic," Shadow added with a straight face, "You know it isn't physically possible to be fatter than Eggman."

0-

0-

Tails and Knuckles groaned, despairing of their friends' maturity, while Sonic gave Shadow a totally un-subtle high five.

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"**Laugh all you want, fools**," Eclipse replied, "**You're all trapped, deep within me…how ever shall you manage to stay inside that tiny space? It must be so crowded…but if one of you puts so much as a quill outside, I shall have you all…**" 

"_So saith he_," Fount Shadow spoke up unexpectedly, apparently quoting something, "_And yea, that one did declare: "I hath in mine hand tha power of our holy kingdom, and so yea shall come forth and bow down to me." But when hence he tried to punish one who resisted his power, the red mantle grew out its fangs and he w're swallowed whole in his victim's stead…_"

0-

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"…I read that in a story somewhere, a long time ago," Raven spoke into the echoing silence that followed.

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"I know," Fount Shadow replied, "I pulled it out of your memory. The quote seemed to fit."

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"**What are you babbling about?**" Eclipse demanded.

"Well, you didn't think I'd just _give_ you my power, did you?"

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Fount Shadow hefted the gray rock he was holding and smirked in a way that reminded everyone of Sonic…when the blue hedgehog was about to do something incredibly dangerous and - to his thinking - fun.

0-

"Most of it, yes," Fount Shadow corrected himself as he rose to his feet, "But I know it best, of course, so I made certain there was a little fail-safe handy when you tried to take it away from me."

0-

There was a pause as Eclipse tried to determine what sort of fail-safe he was up against. When he figured it out, the monstrous being gave out a grim chuckle.

0-

"**Most ingenious…if I was not almost as fully ingrained to this way of life as you yourself are**," Eclipse informed the listening folk, "**There is a fail-safe to your fail-safe, such that your underdeveloped mind could not anticipate…eject or erase me, and you destroy yourself and all who inhabit you!**"

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"…We're _screwed_," Sonic unhelpfully declared.

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"…He's right," Fount Shadow muttered unhappily, staring into his rock like it was a crystal ball - and maybe it was. Who could tell? - and discovering the truth for himself, "Blasted demon, absorbing the negative space first…"

0-

0-

"Destroy us if you need to, but **don't** let him keep this power."

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Everyone turned to stare at Raven.

0-

"Um, Raven, I don't know about you, but personally I want to _live_," Sonic pointed out, "I think some of the others agree with me on that…"

"Actually, I would really prefer NOT to kill any of you third-dimensionally-based people," Fount Shadow admitted, looking uncomfortable on the subject.

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"You've seen my memories?" Raven inquired.

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When he got a hesitant nod in response, the white hedgehog continued, "Then you know you have to do whatever it takes."

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"**Desperate, aren't you?**" purred Eclipse, who was unashamedly listening in on the conversation, "**All that delightful cracking of your mind I did, and here I thought that stupid wish of yours to save your baby brother's life and still protect him from me was still in there somewhere…**"

Raven looked pained, and refused to meet anyone's gaze after that. Shadow, on the other hand, was staring at his brother with new understanding. Raven had had a true monster living inside his head…no wonder he'd tried to drive Shadow away at first, before he had fully succumbed…

…

"Okay, I think I have an idea now," Fount Shadow said.

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This announcement surprised everyone, since they had all figured there was absolutely nothing they could do. But of course, a sentient dimension _does_ tend to have more options available than most other people…

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"I still have to do what I was going to do before," Fount Shadow explained, "But I _think_ I can destroy myself in a way that won't be fatal for you people."

0-

"Wait!" Tails cried, "But you'll still be destroyed!"

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"You missed the great explanation on the nature of ethics in metaphysics and the history of the nth level of power that these two were having," Shadow explained for the benefit of those who had not originally been inside the bubble.

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"It has to be done," Fount Shadow told Tails.

"I know," Tails sighed, "It doesn't mean I have to like it at _all_, though…"

0-

"I'll see if I can't make it up to you," Fount Shadow said, before raising the weird rock orb up over his head and smashing it down as hard as he could.

0-

0-

It splintered into pieces, and out from the inside came a great rush of brilliant energy, blindingly bright and all sorts of colors that didn't actually exist in nature.

0-

Eclipse roared in agony - they could see him now, a mass of tentacles and a snakey head, being helplessly swept away by the current of power as the Fount of Light erased itself.

The non-intergalactic monsters in the vicinity weren't doing too much better, though. Sonic ran as fast as he could, trying to make headway, but the best he could do was stay in place.

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"What do we do now!" he yelled over the roar of raw energy as he fought to maintain his position.

"There!" someone yelled, "That ring - grab it!"

0-

0-

In the exact spot where all the endless power was coming from, there lay - or maybe floated? Who **knew** anymore - a glowing white ring, big enough for all five of them to grab hold of at the same time.

0-

Running/swimming/flying/digging through the power itself, one by one they made it to the ring and grabbed onto it for dear life. And the very second the last one of them got a grip, there was an endless flash, almost like that of Chaos Control, and they were falling -

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A black tentacle appeared out of nowhere and lashed out at them, as Eclipse made his final bid to do some sort of damage before he was finally destroyed.

Because of that attack, Raven lost his grip and vanished before he could make a sound.

0-

Then everyone hit solid ground and nobody could muster the energy to move or think for a long while.

…

A bird, apparently thinking this was a good perch, tickled Shadow's nose with its tail feathers until the black hedgehog could muster the energy to bat at it.

It chirped at him in annoyance and fluttered away, leaving Shadow to wonder where the heck he was…and why he felt like he'd lost a fight with an avalanche.

0-

"Wanna sleep, five more minutes," someone groaned sleepily, somewhere off to the side.

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'Shut up, Sonic…' Shadow thought tiredly, wanting to go back to sleep himself.

0-

Why was Sonic in his room, anyway?

0-

…The smell of seawater in the air, and the bird coming back for another shot at keeping its perch, made Shadow abruptly curious if this was actually his room at Sonic and Tails' house.

If it _was_, Shadow thought as he blearily squinted upwards, the ceiling and walls were missing for some inexplicable reason…

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"Guys! Wake up!" Tails yelled, breaking through the fog of exhaustion with the panic in his voice, "We're back on Angel Island!"

0-

When this failed to work, Tails resorted to yelling something about the Master Emerald, and Knuckles was up and shaking the others awake shortly afterwards.

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They were back on Angel Island after all, it turned out. Angel Island had plummeted into the sea below, but that was perfectly understandable since the Master Emerald was currently a tired-looking gray rock with no power.

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The Chaos Emeralds were scattered around the pedestal that the Master Emerald was kept on, and they looked drained as well. But all eight gems were slowly regaining their color, and the Master would no doubt be able to return the island to the skies after only a day or so of recovery.

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But that wasn't the weirdest thing about the Master Emerald right now.

Nope, the weirdest thing was the weird hedgehog who was currently propped up against said Master Emerald.


	34. Just A Little Samba

(Authoress frantically works her way through site to get to this page)

Ugh! Now everything's so _complicated_...oh well.

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Bad news, guys. This is truly and completely the **LAST CHAPTER OF THE FIC!**

(thunder crashes, church bells ring, and a woman screams)

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Hope you all enjoyed this little sojourn into the depths of my crazed imagination...and I doubly hope you all managed to find your way back out. It's pretty wild in there.

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Disclaimer: Haven't you gotten it by NOW? Sonic isn't mine!

Claimer: Raven mine, Eclipse mine, mystery hedgehog mine, Fount of Light mine...it ain't rocket science, folks.

* * *

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The weird hedgehog was someone none of them recognized: walnut brown in color, save for a wide patch of silky gray fur like a natural collar on its chest, with many overly-long quills draped down their back and sporting unusual-looking back sneakers.

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_Speaking_ of strange hedgehogs…Shadow looked around for his brother as the others approached the stranger.

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But Raven was missing.

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Hadn't him come back with them? Their return had left them all totally drained, so he should still be around somewhere…yet he wasn't.

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A flash of memory - Eclipse striking out, Raven vanishing in an instant -

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"Has anyone seen my brother?" Shadow asked as he walked towards the group, trying not to sound at all completely _terrified_ of the idea that his only remaining blood relative _might_ have just been _erased_ from _existence_ -

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"He's coming around!" Tails announced, not hearing Shadow's question, "Are you - oh."

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The stranger's eyes were the same current tired gray of the Master Emerald, with the same hint of returning green glow that the Master currently had…and were looking around far too intelligently for a regular person of any sort.

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"_Oh_…" Tails gasped, "He **saved** himself!"

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"Mmm…" groaned the brown hedgehog, gesturing towards Shadow - having apparently heard his question, "…Was supposed…to tell you…sorry…we dropped him…"

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"You **dropped** my **brother?**" Shadow repeated woodenly.

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"…S'okay," the brown hedgehog added, as quickly as he could, "Parent saw…he's on this planet…someplace bright…full of stone, we thought…so tired…"

0-

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The relief that Shadow felt was powerful enough to knock him straight up to the ARK and back again. Raven was still alive! That meant he could be found again!

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Meanwhile, the stranger gained energy with the Master Emerald, until he could at last sit up on his on and look at the others eye-to-eye.

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"I was supposed to tell you," he said to Tails presently, "That the Parent liked you a lot and will miss you very much."

0-

"I'll miss him too," Tails said, "But if you're not the consciousness of the Fount of Light, who are you?"

0-

"The Parent made me, because it couldn't come here itself," explained the strange hedgehog, "Removing the one you called Eclipse cost the majority of the power-life matrix, and sending me with the memories was the only way to insure survival and eventual revival for the Parent."

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"Wait, explain with smaller words so I can understand!" Sonic pleaded.

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"I think he said that he's the child created from the consciousness of the living dimension we were just stuck in," Knuckles said.

0-

"Smaller than **THAT!**"

0-

"You're just being difficult now," Shadow told him.

"So," he continued, talking to the newcomer, "Do you have a name?"

0-

The brown hedgehog hesitated, glanced at Sonic, and with a slight smile replied, "We believed 'Alphonse' might be a suitable appellation."

0-

"That's a huge word too," Sonic sighed.

0-

But he grinned, knowing he was being baited, and calmly ruffled Alphonse's quills and called him 'Squirt', explaining afterwards that his logic had figured on the fact that Alphonse had literally been squirted out of a fountain.

0-

…

0-

Alphonse wasn't exactly accurate hedgehog material, but the Fount of Light hadn't had a true consciousness for very long and so the mistakes with his quills and his tail - it was very long and semi-prehensile - were easy enough to overlook.

0-

But as far as anyone asked about his having the powers of the Fount of Light itself, Alphonse would only say that he wasn't certain, since some of those powers probably wouldn't work if you lacked the power to shape reality to your whims.

0-

As soon as Alphonse finished recharging from the Master Emerald - this seemingly minor detail had a _particularly_ confusing explanation - everyone except Knuckles departed Angel Island for Sonic and Tails' house, taking most of the Chaos Emeralds with them.

0-

Shadow, however, didn't plan to stay with the others very long, and as soon as the Chaos Emeralds were fully back to normal, took one and left to go find his brother.

0-

Wherever **he** was.

0-

…

0-

This, like many other incredibly remote locations, was hardly ever traveled to.

0-

Even to get here, you'd need to hike all the way up the longest, hardest trail, and then jump off a couple of cliffs to make it to this particular crevice.

0-

And at that point, unless you checked very, very carefully, it was almost impossible to make out the impression in the loose rock and dirt.

0-

The impression, if one checked very, very carefully, was strangely similar to one that would be made by a hedgehog.

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If it _was_ a hedgehog, that hedgehog _might_ have been wearing weird metal shoes, and could quite _possibly_ have possessed flared-out quills…

0-

Further checking would only reveal a few more markings, heading out of the crevice and going on downhill, where such an unusually located hedgehog _could_ have crawled out of the crevice and thereupon walked away…


End file.
